A Twisted Game of Love
by BunBunBabe
Summary: When Neal goes undercover and is kidnapped and injured Peter realizes that it's time to tell him how he feels, Follow the trials and hardships of a seasoned FBI agent and his secret love and partner Neal Caffrey as they play a twisted game of love.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey hey it's me BunBunBabe again sorry for such a long wait for a new story everyone I was worried that this wouldn't get many reviews until my beta bullied me into posting it saying it was really good so here you go the first chapter now chapter two is done and three is almost done but there may be some long breaks between posts after two since I start a new job soon, and also I'm hoping for a lot of reviews on this one... you all know the drill slash don't like don't read and please review don't flame. Loves and Hugs~ BBB  
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**Chapter 1: Undercover**

"Peter no way, you can get another CI because I won't do it…put me back in prison right this minute because there is not enough art in the world to get me to do this. I am putting my foot down right now!" Neal yelled as he stormed out of Peter's office in a huff. The ex con stormed out of the White Collar division and punched the down arrow on the elevator; he needed to vent. When the elevator arrived Neal got in and punched the button for the lobby and rode down in silence. When he got to the lobby Neal walked out of the FBI office and hailed a cab and gave June's address and waited as the cab took him home. Neal paid the driver when they arrived and he made his way up to his apartment before he slammed and locked the door. Going to his bed Neal dropped onto his bed and ignored his cell phone as it began to buzz in his pocket. Neal wanted nothing to do with the newest case he may have been forced to work with the FBI in the past but he was putting his foot down this time and it was going to stay down on the matter.

Thirty minutes later Neal's apartment door opened, Neal knew Peter had a key after he had been stuck home with the flu last month and June wasn't home to watch the ex con. "Neal get off that bed and change into these clothes; we have work to do," Peter said as he dropped a duffle bag on the bed beside his partner. Getting up from the bed Neal grabbed the bag and stormed across the apartment and went to his closet to change. After a minute Neal walked out with his closet with his arms over his chest and his hair mussed up and hanging in his eyes. "I swear to God Peter this better not get out to anyone, not Elizabeth or Mozzie, not even to June or Alex," Neal said as he shifted uncomfortably in front of the agent. "You have my word Neal; no one is going to find out about this I promise," Peter said.

"You look good but we have to get rid of the anklet it is pretty much a dead giveaway," Peter said as he moved toward the couch and sat down and waited for Neal to walk over. Neal walked over to the couch and put his leg up on the arm of the couch and pulled the left leg of his new pants up. Peter cut the band and handed Neal a necklace and an ear wig and got up from the couch. "This is where you have to go," Peter said handing a slip of paper over to Neal. Neal finished putting the necklace on and the ear wig in his ear so he could hear the agents in the van and took the address and sighed as he left his apartment and ignored the looks he got from June's maids as he left the mansion and walked to the corner of the block and hailed a cab. After giving the address he had to go to Neal ignored the cab driver who was looking him over as he was dropped off in a shady area. _The next time we have a job where I have to dress like this I'm going to walk back to prison myself…_ Neal thought with sigh as he walked down the sidewalk to the area he needed to wait.

Diana watched the monitor as the back door to the van opened. "So how did you manage to get him to do it?" she asked as she watched Neal on the monitor. "He just had to pout for a few minutes before he realized we needed him on this job. I guess the initial shock of the undercover job had to sink in," Peter said as he took a seat in the open seat. Jones turned around and smirked "Well how many times do we actually ask him to walk the streets as a male hooker?" Jones asked with a smirk. "You do realize I can hear you three" Neal remarked knowing that the agents were listening to him at all times. Peter took the microphone and watched the monitor of Neal as he stopped at the corner and leaned against the lamp post. "Just remember who we're looking for, if anyone stops that isn't our guy then get rid of them by any means. Remember if something goes wrong just give us the word and we'll get you out of there as soon as possible," Peter said as he clicked the microphone off.

Neal groaned as a cool breeze whipped by and made him shiver. "Peter… you and everyone else can burn in hell for this," Neal mumbled as he put his arms around his chest to keep himself warm. Peter smirked and watched as Neal subconsciously rubbed his right leg against his left ankle where the anklet used to be. After an hour of standing under the street light Neal watched another car drive by him and only slow down for a moment before leaving. "Why don't you take your shirt off maybe that will work," Peter remarked in a bored tone. "You know what else would work… get someone else, I'm freezing out here Peter…" Neal mumbled. Once another hour passed Peter sighed "It doesn't look like anyone's going to stop tonight, Neal why don't you head home we'll try again tomorrow night, so keep those clothes clean," Peter said over the earwig. Neal didn't bother to reply as he walked away from the corner and made his way to where the cabs were speeding by. As he walked out of range Neal heard the ear wig go silent. Feeling truly alone Neal sighed as he kept his gaze down on the dingy sidewalk.

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><p>Lost in his own world Neal didn't notice the parked van with the open side door. Neal was jostled out of his thoughts when he felt a hand grab the collar of his shirt and pull him with great force toward the van. Slamming his head on the door frame Neal felt disorientated as he hit the floor of the van hard. As he lost consciousness Neal felt his necklace being ripped from his neck. The door was slammed shut and locked as Neal felt himself slip deeper into the darkness. When the van began to move Neal was thrown around like a rag doll as the truck moved down the streets of Manhattan.<p>

Peter stretched as he got ready to leave the FBI van when he noticed that Neal's tracker from his necklace was standing still in the middle of the sidewalk, leaning closer to the computer Peter wondered why Neal seemed to be standing still for so long. "You two wait here for a moment I have a bad feeling about this," Peter said as he left the van with his gun at his side as he crossed to the sidewalk where Neal should have been standing. Looking up and down the street the FBI agent felt his worry growing once he saw his partner was missing. Walking back to the van Peter looked at the screen and saw the tracker was still transmitting from the same stretch of sidewalk. "Call this in, Neal is missing…" he ordered trying not to think that Neal had taken the opportunity to run away. Taking a set Peter looked at the video footage of the street as he watched Neal disappear out of camera range. Rewinding the tape again Peter looked for any signs that Neal was going to run away. "Neal what's going on…?" Peter mumbled as he pulled out his cell phone and called Neal's only to have it go straight to voice mail.

When the agents arrived Peter directed them to search the alleyways and began to call the cab companies to see if anyone had picked up a man fitting Neal's description at all. When the cab leads turned up empty Peter cursed and began to worry about Neal. "Hughes isn't going to like this at all," Peter mumbled to himself as he ordered a few more agents around. _Neal is resourceful he'll get in contact with us… that is if he didn't plan this and he's run away,_ Peter thought as he looked up at the sky for a moment hoping he was wrong about Neal running away.

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><p>Neal groaned softly as he slowly regained consciousness, letting his chin hit his chest again. When his mind caught up Neal opened his eyes and lifted his head. Right away he noticed his arms were being held behind his back and bound to a metal headboard with plastic zip ties. Giving the ties a quick tug to test their strength Neal groaned at the pain in his shoulders. "Careful Caffrey… you could dislocate your shoulder doing that," a voice said from the dark corner of the room. Right away Neal stopped pulling as he recognized the voice. "Keller…" he said as he felt his heart rate increasing. "Don't worry Caffrey I'm not going to hurt you that would just make it harder for my plans to succeed if you're injured," Keller said as he got up from the chair he was sitting in and made his way over to the bed. Neal struggled against the bindings again hoping one would come loose. Matthew Keller laughed as he made it to the bedside and grabbed a handful of Neal's hair and forced him to look up. "It's been a long time since we saw each other," Keller remarked with a dark chuckle.<p>

Turning his head away Neal let out a hiss of pain as his hair was yanked hard. "I didn't say you could look away from me did I?' Keller asked as he twisted Neal's hair around his fingers giving him a better grip. Neal glared at his captor before spitting in his face. Releasing Neal's hair Keller chuckled and wiped his face off. "Not a smart idea Caffrey," Keller said as he punched Neal in the face before shutting the lights off and shutting and locking the door behind him leaving the ex con in the dark. Ignoring his legs falling asleep under him Neal let his eyes adjust to the dark room, with no lights or windows Neal couldn't tell how much time had passed.

When Keller returned to the room he was smirking. He turned the lights on and watched as Neal turned his head away from the light. "I just came down to tell you that your face is plastered all over the news, the FBI is saying you ran away and there is a nationwide manhunt for you," Keller said with a smirk as he leaned against the door and watched Neal absorb the news. "You should know I was going to hide you outside the city but with Burke moving everything so quickly I can't move you so it looks like you're going to be stuck with me until I'm bored of you," Keller said with a cold chuckle. "I meant to ask you before why you were dressed like a hooker then it dawned on me that you have always been the FBI's bitch and now they finally are making you dress the part," Keller mocked as he took his seat in the corner of the room.

"I was undercover for a case that was the only reason I was dressed like this…"Neal defended as he tried to shift his weight to fight the tingling in his legs. Matthew chucked again "Of course you were…now before I forget let's talk rules. One if you try to escape I'll kill you, two, if you try to contact the FBI I'll kill you and them. Three if you try to harm me I'll kill you…" Keller warned as he dug his fingernails into Neal's cheek and pulled down creating four angry red scratches. Neal whimpered as Keller pulled away with more force. "If you don't want to anger me then behave every moment of every day," he said as he walked around the bed forcing Neal to turn his head to follow him and watch every move he made. "Peter is going to find me and you are going to jail Keller," Neal said as he tried to keep positive. "Well don't worry, I'll make sure you join me and we share a cell Caffrey," he said as he picked up a knife from the nightstand and brushed the sharp edge of the blade against Neal's cheek and neck.

Keller chuckled at how scared his ex partner looked. "Don't worry I'm not going to cut you unless you provoke me into doing so," Keller promised as he finished with the knife and put it back on the night stand. Neal nodded and looked away he knew that his ex partner was like a wild animal and if he was ever provoked it would end badly. "I know that, remember I've worked with you before Keller I know how you are… cold, heartless and you would rather kill me than let me get away," Neal said coldly which earned him a punch to the face. "You shouldn't run your mouth Caffrey it could get you hurt," he said with a cold chuckle. "Well it's getting late… I'm going to turn in for the night I'll be back to check on you in the morning… if I feel like it or maybe in a couple days," Keller said with an evil smirk as he shut the lights off again and shut the door plunging Neal back into the darkness once again.

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><p>Peter walked around his office and ignored everyone else running around trying to follow every tip on sightings of Neal. <em>Where is he…did he run away … or was he kidnapped<em>. Peter thought as he dropped into his chair and looked at the photos on his desk and saw the only photo he had of him and Neal at the FBI Christmas party with Neal wearing an elf hat and his arms draped over Peter's shoulders in a hug. Peter gave a small smile as he remembered the gift Neal had give him a perfect recreation of a painting that Peter had told him about that hung over his parent's fireplace when he was a child before it was lost in a move.

That was the night Peter realized that he didn't want Neal just as a friend he wanted more. Peter knew Neal was like an exotic animal, extremely beautiful to look at and just as forbidden to have. Quashing his thoughts when Hughes walked in Peter stood up. "Sir we're looking everywhere, we have police out looking at the train, and subway stations, the bus station. We have also been looking along the river for any signs of Neal getting away on a boat. We're going to find Neal before he gets away," Peter said his voice tinted with a not so sure tone. "It doesn't matter, I just got off the phone with DC they are outraged that Caffrey was able to slip through your fingers so easily… they're out for blood Peter and as your friend I am just going to warn you if you don't find Caffrey soon this could be it for your career; you could be fired," Hughes said with a sigh.

"I will find him, and you can tell them if I get fired the FBI will never find Neal because no one knows him like I do," Peter said promising that Neal wouldn't be easy to find."Well good but go home you look exhausted, get some sleep and get your mind off Caffrey for a little while then maybe you'll think of something we haven't thought of yet. But just go, Elizabeth will have my head if you stay here any longer," Hughes said as he watched Peter accept temporary defeat and start to pack up a few things and grab his coat. After leaving the office Peter drove home and dragged himself into the house and dropped onto the living room couch and sighed. _ Elizabeth said that this week she would be late getting home, so it looks like I have to fend for myself,_ Peter thought as he kicked his shoes off and stared at the blank TV screen. Satchmo trotted into the room and put his head on Peter's knee.

Scratching Satchmo's ears Peter looked into his dog's eyes. "What am I going to do Satch?"Peter asked his dog as he got up from the couch and decided to take a shower before looking at the files he brought home with him. After a long hot shower to clear his head Peter changed into some sweat pants and an old tee shirt. As he settled himself on the couch Peter grabbed his lap top and opened his FBI email and opened the video files Jones had sent him. Watching the footage of Neal on the street corner the agent sighed as he watched Neal leaning against a wall. It took Peter a moment to realize that the same van had passed by the corner twice. Hitting the pause on the video Peter grabbed his phone and called Diana.

"Diana… when we left the van and closed the street down did you notice any empty parking spots that would be big enough for an economy sized van?" Peter asked as he went through the footage again looking for a license plate number. "Yeah it was right by the tracker… are you saying that Neal didn't run but he was kidnapped?" Diana asked as she snapped her fingers to get Jones attention by the coffee area. "That's exactly what I'm saying, get the team back into the office I don't care if they are stuck in traffic we need to find Neal right now…it's been three hours and no ransom call which means this is serious," Peter ordered as he slipped his shoes on ignoring the fact he was dressed very casually and grabbed his car keys. Leaving the house Peter returned to the office as the rest of his team filed in various states of dress. "We we're mistaken before, Neal did not run away he was kidnapped," Peter said as he had Jones pull up the footage.

Pointing the van out Peter began ordering his team. "No one is going home until we locate that van or finds any sign of Neal," Peter said determined that he would find his partner. _We're coming Neal…just hold on a little longer where ever you are,_ Peter thought as he looked at the footage of Neal once more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone thanks for the reviews and reading this story, I crave more haha, I start my new job tomorrow so the updates will be more spaced out gomen I am so sorry but I am still writing because you my fans are making me happy. So keep reviewing or I might have peter get fired from the fbi its in your hands ppl Loves and Hugs  
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**Chapter 2: Captured**

Neal opened his eyes and found himself staring at the darkness again, he had no idea how many days had passed. All he knew was the sound of the key in the lock signaling that Keller was there with a small cup of water for him to drink. When the telltale click of the key alerted Neal to the return of Keller he closed his eyes to keep himself from being blinded by the bright lights when they were turned on. "I'm going to take pity on you today Caffrey and let you take a bath upstairs," Keller said as he put the edge of the paper cup against Neal's lips and helped him drink. Neal drank the water quickly and lapped at the drops on the rim. Grabbing his pocket knife Keller cut the plastic zip ties that held Neal's arms behind his back and forced the ex-con to his feet and held him up as he walked him out of the dark room.

Right away Neal closed his eyes tighter as he was met by sunlight. He tried hard to memorize each step as he was led up a flight of stairs. By the time Neal felt some strength return to his legs he was pushed down onto floor. Opening his eyes slowly Neal let them adjust to the sunlight coming in the window. When he was able to see again Neal looked around the bathroom as he listened to Keller begin filling the tub with water. Dragging himself over to the tub Neal looked at the water and smiled at the sight and stuck his hand into the water to feel the warm liquid. Sighing softly he dragged his fingers over the water and traced patterns on the water's surface.

Keller shut the water off and watched as Neal put his head down on his arm and played with the water for a few moments. "You better get in the water before it gets cold," he said grabbing onto Neal's shirt and forcibly pulling it over his head leaving him shirtless. Neal used the edge of the tub to push himself to his feet. Sitting on the edge of the tub he managed to remove his pants and slide into the tub without help. Keller smirked and brought over some soap and shampoo. "Be done in two hours, I'll be back for you then," Keller said as he left the bathroom and locked the door behind him. Neal groaned as he slipped into the hot water and let it slip around his body making him feel grateful for being allowed to take a bath. Putting his head against the built in head rest Neal closed his eyes as he let the hot water relax his strained muscles.

After an hour Keller grew bored of waiting and slipped into the bathroom and found Neal resting in the tub his damp hair sticking to his face. Walking over silently he put his hand on Neal's head and pushed him under the water before he could react and held him there for a couple seconds before pulling him out of the water. "I didn't say you could fall asleep Caffrey, I hope you washed up because you're getting out now," Keller said as he dragged Neal out of the tub by his hair and dropped him on the floor face first. "You're new clothes are in the bedroom, but I want you to crawl into the room," Keller ordered. Neal knew what the other man was capable of; pushing himself to his hands and knees he slowly crawled out of the bathroom ignoring the fierce blush covering his body as he entered the bedroom. When he found the clothes on the bed he quickly dressed in the sweat pants and large tee shirt.

"What do you want from me Keller?" Neal asked as he kept his eyes locked on the other man. "I didn't give you permission to talk," Keller said as he walked toward Neal and punched him in the jaw sending him to the floor. Neal stayed down for his own safety and kept his eyes trained on the carpet. "You will only speak when I tell you unless you want even worse, now stay there I'll be back in two minutes," Keller warned as he left the bedroom to see if Neal would listen to him. Neal pushed himself up slowly until he was sitting up and looking around the room quickly he took in as many details as possible before his captor came back. When the door began to open again Neal got back onto the ground and kept his eyes down. "You're learning very quickly…now get up and follow me I guess I actually have to feed you to keep you alive," Keller said as he left the room with Neal following behind him down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Neal walked over to the table and sat down and looked at the newspaper on the table and saw that he had been there for over ten days. _It doesn't feel like ten days have passed at all…_ Neal thought as he picked up the paper. "I didn't say you could sit at the table," Keller said as he threw Neal to the ground. "The FBI gave up looking for you and now you are stuck here unless you want to go back to jail when you step out that door, but if you listen to me and do as I say I will protect you from going back to jail," Keller promised as he put his hand on Neal's head. Neal looked up defiantly and smacked Keller's hand away. "Peter would never give up looking for me, even if the FBI tells him to stop he won't!" Neal yelled as he grabbed the chair and swung it will all his strength and sent his captor into the wall. Dropping the chair Neal ran toward the door to make a break for it.

As soon as his feet hit the hardwood floor of the living room Neal was tackled to the ground hard sending him into a daze. "I didn't say you could leave Caffrey," Keller panted as he flipped Neal over and punched him again this time knocking him out cold. Ignoring his own bloody lip Keller grabbed Neal by the wrist and dragged his unconscious body and dropped him on an oversized dog bed under the window before putting a heavy iron collar around Neal's neck; he then walked over to the counter and picked up a small blow torch and hooked a chain through the two rings on the back of the collar and welded the chain link closed and smirked as he shut the blowtorch off and put it away in the cabinet.

When he regained consciousness Neal sat up and found his neck felt weighted down by something, forcing his body up Neal saw he was sitting on a large dog bed and was chained to the wall by a heavy collar that was making him want to lie back down. Fighting the weight Neal stood up and found the chain allowed him to walk into the bathroom and reach the toilet and the sink but was just a few inches too short when it came to reaching for the cordless phone on the counter. Letting out a small whimper Neal practically strangled himself as he tried to reach the phone, his fingers brushed against the smooth plastic base only to end up knocking the phone to the floor and having it bounce out of reach. Letting out a low curse he grabbed the table and flipped it over in anger and grabbed the chain and pulled with all his strength.

Pulling on the chain with all his strength Neal was met with little leeway; he struggled and strained only to have the ring hold tight. Growling in annoyance Neal dropped the heavy chain on the ground and sighed as he walked over to the window and looked out at the dark backyard. Ignoring the pain in his cheek from earlier Neal looked around to make sure he was alone before sinking to his knees and giving a silent prayer before crawling back onto the dog bed and curling up to keep warm as he tried to fall asleep.

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><p>Peter sat in front of the TV not paying attention to the game at all. He hadn't been able to concentrate on anything since Neal's disappearance. He couldn't stop thinking about Neal. Elizabeth walked into the living room and watched as Peter shut the TV off and just sat in the dark the only light coming from the street. "Peter… do you want to talk about it?" Elizabeth asked as she walked over and sat on the couch by her husband. "I'm going to turn in early…" Peter said as he got up from the couch and dragged himself upstairs and into the master bedroom. Dropping onto the bed Peter put his pillow over his head as he fell back. <em>Neal… I'm not giving up on you <em>Peter thought as he pulled the pillow off of his face before he changed his clothes and got back into bed.

Elizabeth sighed and got up from the couch and made her way upstairs. Walking into the master bedroom Elizabeth got ready for bed and crawled into bed. "Peter…you have to stop blaming yourself, you're going to find Neal I know it," she said trying to get through to her husband. "But it is my fault El, he didn't want to do it and I talked him into going undercover which put him on that sidewalk to be grabbed, now with no ransom how do I know he's even still alive…I'll never forgive myself if he's found dead in a dumpster somewhere," Peter said softly indicating he wanted to drop the conversation. "Neal is not lying in a dumpster… you're going to find him and bring him home," she said softly. Peter rolled over and looked at his wife. "Don't even try to humor me…I've failed Neal and he's as good as dead," Peter argued as he turned away again and closed his eyes and forced himself to fall asleep.

In the morning Peter dragged himself out of bed and showered, he was glad it was Saturday so he wouldn't have to go to work but it also meant facing another day without Neal. On the way to the kitchen Peter was caught off guard by his agent sitting in his living room. Diana stood up and looked at her boss. Right away Peter knew something was wrong. "The body of a young man was pulled out of the river this morning in New Jersey, mid to late twenties to early thirties, dark hair and blue eyes. Hughes wants us to go see if it's Neal," Diana said knowing that the news would be a tough pill to swallow. Peter didn't wait he rushed upstairs to change and was down and ready to leave as soon as possible. When the agents arrived in Newark Peter felt his stomach twisting into knots as they pulled up to the Essex county morgue.

Ignoring the smell of chemicals Peter followed the assistant down the twisting halls. "I don't know why you even bothered to show up this poor bastard barely looks human, whoever did this really hated the guy or is just crazy, his face is a mess and the tips of his fingers were chopped off while he was still alive so finger prints are a no go," the assistant said as he pushed open the doors into the morgue. Peter bit his tongue to keep from responding as the medical examiner came over. "You must be Agent Burke and Agent Barrigan, I'm Doctor Jason Verge, when this young man came in I was talking to a friend of mine who said that the description matched that of your missing consultant not to mention he was wearing the clothes your consultant was wearing when he went missing, now I should warn you that it's pretty brutal… I've pulled Mr. Caffrey's dental records to compare with the x-rays I took from the body," the M.E. said as he walked around the table and grabbed the edge of the sheet.

Peter steeled himself for the sight and nodded, the M.E. pulled the sheet down revealing the face. "When you examined the body did you find a faint scar on the left palm?" Peter asked as he stared at the face of dead body, the heavily swollen lips and cheeks hid most of the bone structure underneath. "No, the palm is clear of scarring, why do you ask?" Jason asked as he lifted the hand up to show the pale colorless skin and unmarred palm. Peter finally looked up from the face. "Neal cut his hand on a piece of broken glass a month ago and needed stitches I was there when the doctor said there would be a faint scar after…which means this isn't Neal, check the records and the DNA but this man isn't Neal," Peter said his heart feeling lighter that he hadn't failed Neal yet.

"Thank you doctor, we'll let you get back to work," Peter said as he walked out of the morgue with Diana beside him. "For that body to be dressed in Neal's clothes means that whoever kidnapped Neal did this to draw our attention from something else. Which means we're looking in the wrong direction… if we want to find Neal we have to find out what we're not supposed to be looking at," Peter said as he got into Diana's car. "We need to get to the office right now I need to look up something," he said thinking that he over looked something. Pulling his phone out Peter called in his agents and ignored the few that hung up on him saying they needed the day off. When they got to the office Peter stood in the elevator with Diana.

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><p>Keller walked into the kitchen and looked at the destruction in the room. Grabbing the cordless phone off that floor Keller put it back on the cradle before moving over to the dog bed by the wall. "Bad Caffrey…you made such a mess of the kitchen," Matthew said as he walked over and stood over the ex con. Neal cracked his eyes open and saw the anger in his captor's eyes. Before he could move out of harm's way Neal cried out in pain as Keller's foot made contact with his stomach. Curling up in a tight ball Neal closed his eyes tightly and whimpering in pain. Grabbing the chain Keller gave it a hard tug choking Neal as he grabbed the bolt cutters and cut the chain from the wall and folded it over and began to whip Neal with it.<p>

By the time he was done Keller smirked at his work and dropped the chain before checking Neal's pulse to make sure he was alive. "At least you're still breathing…for now…" he mumbled as he grabbed Neal by the wrist and twisted it to the near point of breaking it snapping Neal out of his stupor. "I'm sorry I'll clean it up!" Neal yelled to get Matthew to let him go. "That's what I wanted to hear now get to work," he ordered as he walked over to a chair that was still standing and sat down to watch Neal clean in silence. Neal cleaned up the mess quickly and stood there and looked at the floor. "Very good you're learning, you earned something to eat," Keller remarked with a smirk as he walked to the bread drawer and pulled a bag of dinner rolls out and threw the bag at his captive.

Ripping the bag open Neal started to scarf the rolls down as fast as possible. When he finished the first couple rolls he looked up for a drink. "May I please have a drink?" he asked as he continued to nibble on the rolls as he was given a bottle of water. "See you're learning, when you follow the rules you'll get food and more freedoms, try to escape or injure me and a whipping will be the least of your problems," Keller said as he sat down across from Neal. Keeping quiet Neal kept eating until he was full; when he was done he played with the twist tie on the table. "I'm going out for a few minutes, I have to get my mail from down the street I want you to stay right there and if you move an inch I'll make you wish you hadn't" Keller warned as he got up and left the house.

Neal waited a few agonizing seconds the make sure the other man had left before he got to his feet and tiptoed across the room and grabbed the bolt cutters that were left on the island counter and cut a majority of the chain off from around his neck. _I need to run fast and far… _ Neal thought as he ran out the back door and down the small alley to the street. Looking behind him Neal looked for any signs of being followed as he started to walk down the sidewalk to find a place to hide. Turning toward street Neal came face to face with Keller. Sliding to a stop Neal turned around and took off like a jackrabbit in the other direction.

"Neal! Get back here…" Keller yelled as he chased his former partner into traffic. Neal didn't hear the taxi's horn in time to get out of the way as the yellow cab struck him like a deer in the street. Keller froze on the street corner he knew that the police would be called and it would be dangerous to stay there, turning tail he made a run for it before anyone saw him. Neal watched as people stood over him with cell phones glued to their ears as they called in the accident. He tried to catch his breath despite his broken ribs, looking at the faces looking down at him Neal became nervous and tried to push himself away only to cringe in pain at his broken arm.

When the paramedics arrived Neal fought them as they tried to help him. After a moment they grew fed up with Neal's actions and moved him to the gurney as quickly and safely as possible before they put him in back of the ambulance. One of the paramedics leaned over Neal and put his hand on his shoulder to keep him calm. "We need to know your name and blood type," he said as he grabbed a clip board and began to fill out information on the chart. Neal turned his head away and began to hyperventilate at the thought of giving out information that could let Keller find him Neal pushed himself up into a seated position despite his injuries and struggled to breathe with his broken ribs. The paramedic instantly grabbed a small vial of Ativan and filled the small syringe and injecting it into Neal's arm to calm him down. "We're trying to help you sir; now please what is your name?" the man asked again. "Neal…Caffrey" Neal said softly the drugs making him a little loopy. "Alright Mr. Caffrey, we're almost there…"the paramedic promised as the ambulance pulled into the bay. Neal whimpered as he was moved from the ambulance and into through the hall toward the emergency room.

Doctors surrounded the gurney and looked down at Neal as they wheeled him into the emergency room to repair damages from the accident. Drugged out of his mind Neal barely noticed as the collar from around his neck was cut off. "Peter…FBI…" Neal mumbled as he was wheeled into the emergency room to set his broken leg and get stitches on his face and body and repair the damages the car did to him. One nurse left the room and went to the nurse's station and place a call to the FBI with Neal's description and the name she was given having her call transferred she talked to a few agents before she was transferred to the White Collar division.

* * *

><p>Peter had finished his seventh cup of coffee when his phone in his office began to ring, leaving the conference room he picked it up spoke briefly on the phone before hanging up. "Diana I'm going to need a ride to Mercy General, Neal's there he was hit by a car," Peter said as he rushed out of the office with her hot on his heels. By the time they reached the hospital Peter was on edge. Rushing into the hospital Peter flashed his badge to get into the emergency room only to be denied by the head nurse. Diana had to hold Peter back when two orderlies came over and threatened to throw Peter out if he didn't calm down.<p>

Pacing the waiting room Peter was on edge as he waited for one of Neal's doctors to speak to him. After hours of waiting in the cramped waiting room a doctor in his mid forties walked out of the emergency room and straight towards Peter and Diana. "Mr. Burke…there is no need to worry about Neal, he has been moved to a private room upstairs, he had to be restrained and sedated because he tried to stab a male nurse that was trying to hold him down when we were fixing his broken leg. His injuries from the accident consist of a broken leg, six broken ribs, a dinged collar bone, a hairline fracture in his pelvis and a fractured right arm, mild concussion and a few superficial cuts on his face, hands and arms," the doctor said in a professional tone.

"You said something about injuries from the accident which means you found injuries from something else as well," Peter said as he got to his feet. "Yes, he has large welts and bruises on his back from what looks like he was whipped with a chain. When he came into the emergency room we had to remove a metal collar and part of a chain to check for neck injuries. I had the nurse save his clothes and the collar for you just in case. I have to get back to the emergency room; Neal is in room seven-fourteen, he might be a little out of it for a while but you can sit with him until he wakes up," the doctor said before leaving Peter's side.

Before leaving the waiting room Peter took the clothes and collar from the nurse and gave them to Diana with instructions to look for fingerprints or clues. Heading up to the seventh floor Peter walked into Neal's room and found him still asleep from the sedatives. "Jeez Neal… I let you out of my sight for a few seconds and you get into so much trouble," he whispered as he took a seat by Neal's bed. As he waited Peter called a nurse in to undo the soft restraints holding Neal onto the bed. By the time Neal woke up from the sedatives Peter had started his third cup of hospital coffee. Neal groaned softly as he opened his eyes. "Peter…"Neal said as he sat up only to regret the stabbing pain in his ribs. "Hey calm down you have six broken ribs you need to stay still," Peter said softly keeping a calm tone.

Neal struggled to breathe as he was pushed back down onto the bed. When he was calm he closed his eyes and took slow shallow breaths to keep from agitating his injuries. "I know that this might not be the best time but I need to know what happened to you Neal… I know about the collar and the beating you took," Peter said as he reached over and put a comforting hand on Neal's only to have him pull away. "I can't say…" Neal said softly as he turned his gaze toward the window. "Okay I understand, well I should get back to the office and fill Hughes in on your condition and ask him what to do next," Peter said as he got up from the chair hoping to con Neal into talking. "Wait… don't go, I've been alone for almost two weeks in a dark windowless room," Neal said his voice cracking a bit. Peter walked over to the door and shut it to give Neal some privacy before sitting back down.

"Alright I won't go on the condition that at some point you tell me what happened to you Neal so that I can protect you better. Now I'm just going to step out for a second to get the nurse and ask her about getting you some food you look like you could eat a whole deviled ham sandwich," Peter remarked with a smirk. "No matter what I would never eat that," Neal said giving a weak smile as he turned to look out the window again. "When can I go home Peter I don't like it here," Neal said his voice cracking a bit.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello all my fans sorry to keep you all waiting but work is getting in the way don't worry I have come up with an idea to write during my lunch breaks so my chapters will now come a little quicker than before so please read and review that helps me keep the writing going quickly loves and hugs Bun Bun Babe  
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**Chapter 3: Rival**

After two weeks in the hospital Neal was driving the nurses to the point of ignoring his call button. The ex con felt isolated in the hospital room not to mention he barely touched the food served to him making the doctors worry about him even more. Peter had been Neal's white knight; he would sneak in Elizabeth's rosemary chicken and other classy dishes that helped put some weight back on Neal. When he was released from the hospital Neal was ecstatic at the thought of good food and going back to work.

"Can you stay for a while, those nurses weren't very friendly they wouldn't sit and talk to me," Neal complained as Peter helped him into bed and put a pillow under his leg. "I'll stay for a little while; I have some work I can do here. Do you want something to read or eat?" Peter asked as he fluffed Neal's pillows. "No I'm good, since my arm is still fractured I can't really hold a book and I'm not too hungry right now," Neal remarked as he tried to get comfortable on his bed. Peter nodded and sat at the kitchen table and began to type up his report. "Peter I'm bored… come play chess with me… or read me a story," Neal whined as he traced his finger on his comforter. Peter tried not to smirk as he tried to ignore Neal across the small apartment. "Not right now, I need to finish this report but as soon as I'm done I promise I'll play a couple games of chess with you before I have to go home," he said as he glanced up and looked at Neal. "I'm so bored Peter…finish the reports later, come play chess now…"Neal said as he forced himself to sit up more.

Realizing he wasn't going to get any work done Peter shut down his computer and grabbed the chess board and pieces and brought them over to Neal's bed and set the board up on the other side of the bed. "Thanks Peter… I really think a game of chess will help me," Neal said as he moved his pawn. Peter was never good at chess but he knew the basics on how the pieces moved around the board. "It's been two weeks and you still haven't told me anything about what happened to you," Peter remarked trying to make small talk. Neal froze in the middle of his move for a brief second. "For ten days I was kept in a dark room in what I can only assume was a basement, my hands were tied behind my back with zip ties, I was given enough room for blood to flow but not to escape. I was barely fed but I was given a glass of water every day; I was allowed out of the room every couple days to use the bathroom. It wasn't until the tenth day I was brought upstairs and allowed to bathe, when I took too long he came in and held me under the water for a few seconds before I was forced to crawl out of the bathroom nude and dress," Neal said as he placed his rook down.

Sitting stunned for a moment Peter moved another pawn carelessly into the trap Neal set letting Neal move in and put Peter in check mate in only a few moves. "You really don't know how to play too well," Neal remarked as he started to reset the board. "I miss painting, I never thought I would miss something so much when I couldn't do it," the ex con said in passing as he moved first again. "You can start sketching again in a few days, your arm is out of the plaster cast and it's only in an air cast. Remember your doctor said don't overdo it," Peter said as he made his move to counter Neal's opening play. "Peter… did you ever give up hope that I was alive?" Neal asked softly hoping that his partner had kept looking for him.

Peter looked up from the board and saw Neal watching him. "No I never gave up hope, even when a body washed up on shore in New Jersey. I must admit that at first I thought it was you until that is until I saw there was no scar on the palm. I was relieved when I found out it wasn't you and that I hadn't broken the promise I made to myself that I would bring you home alive," he admitted. "Alive yes but not all in one piece," Neal said with a smirk making a joke of his injuries. "I'm glad you can make a joke about that," Peter said chuckling as he made another move. Neal yawned as he reached up and rubbed his eyes a bit. "You're tired Neal why don't you take a nap, the head nurse told me you would sleep during the day and try to stay awake all night to avoid the night terrors you were having," Peter said as he moved the chess board with the pieces still in place so they could finish their game later. "So you know about those do you…to be honest it's more the waking up in a dark room that scares me, I always fear that this is a dream and that I'm still trapped in that basement," Neal said as he tried to get comfortable against the pillows.

"I'll stay for a while, that way in case you wake up you know it's not a dream," Peter said as he kicked his shoes off and got comfortable on Neal's bed. Neal smirked having gotten his way and moved over so that he was resting his head on Peter's shoulder and using the FBI agent as a pillow. Peter waited for Neal to fall asleep before he slipped away and went back to his work on his reports. When he was done Peter decided to slip out of the apartment and stretch his legs with a quick walk down the street and back. _ Neal will be alright for five minutes, he's sound asleep in bed and this way I can get some fresh air to think about that report Diana sent me_ Peter thought as he walked out the front door of June's home and made his way down the sidewalk. _ Diana's report from the interviews on the street corner say a man chased Neal into traffic, the descriptions are all similar… the thing is they all seem to describe one man that I know of… Keller. _ Peter thought as he reached the end of the block and turned around.

Walking back to June's Peter went back upstairs and found that Neal was still asleep. Walking over to the bed Peter leaned over and watched Neal. The ex con opened his eyes and jumped. "Peter… is there a reason you're leaning over me?" Neal asked as he tried to ignore the fact that his throat had gone dry. "I wanted to catch you off guard, to see your reaction when I told you I know who kidnapped you. Neal…why didn't you tell me Keller was the one who kidnapped you?" Peter asked softly. "I was afraid that if you knew you would go after him and get hurt," Neal said just as softly. "So you were worried about me is that it?" Peter asked

"Of course I was worried, Elizabeth would have never forgiven me if you were hurt because of me," Neal said trying to keep up the wall of friendship between them. "Speaking of El I should get home, do you need anything before I go?" Peter asked as he stood up. "No I think I can manage to get around the apartment if I have to, but could you leave a couple lights on?" Neal asked with a smile. Nodding his head Peter said his goodbyes and grabbed his laptop and left for the night.

* * *

><p>Neal looked around the empty apartment and sighed at the loneliness around him. Grabbing his cell phone he dialed Peter's cell and waited for him to pick up. "Peter if you haven't left yet… I was wondering could you stay for the night," Neal asked trying not to sound needy though he knew he was failing at it. Peter smiled into his phone and stopped beside his car. "Yeah I'll be right up, let me just grab my gym bag from my car I have an extra pair of sweats I can use to sleep in," Peter said as he hung up and grabbed his bag and went back upstairs to Neal's apartment. When he walked back in to the apartment he found his partner resting in bed still. "I got lonely and I realized I can't actually get around without some help," Neal said leaning over trying to reach a book and showing he was unable to grab it.<p>

Peter took pity on his partner and walked to the bedroom area and looked at the ex con. "El's right you kind of are like an injured puppy that needs help with everything," he said smirking. Neal tried to pout but it came out as a smile. "I'm not a puppy…I'm more like an injured show dog…" Neal argued with a smile. Peter could only laugh at the similarities between Neal and a show dog. After a quick dinner of chicken salad and deviled ham sandwiches Neal studied his partner before he spoke. "Peter is there something you want to say to me?" Neal asked over another game of chess. Peter looked up with a caught in the headlights gaze, his mid reeled quickly to come up with a lie that sounded plausible. "No, I think you're mistaken that accident must have screw you up more than you thought," Peter lied as he moved his bishop into play. Reading Peter like a book Neal dropped the topic and continued the game only to end in a stalemate. Glancing at the clock Peter realized how late it had gotten. "I should get some sleep or I'm going to be dead to the world at work," Peter remarked as he got up and stretched the kinks out of his back.

"If you want a good night sleep then I suggest you sleep with me tonight, that couch is not good and you'll be so grouchy in the morning," Neal said as he struggled to get to his feet. Peter moved around the table and helped steady Neal on his feet. "Thanks, I guess I should start getting ready for bed since it doesn't look like I'll be going out to any bars any time soon," Neal said with a chuckle as he had Peter help him to the bathroom so he could get ready for bed. Once they were both ready for bed Neal hobbled over to his bed and dropped onto the bed and got under the covers. "Are you sure that you don't mind sharing a bed, I'd be happy to take the couch Neal," Peter said trying to keep cool.

"I said it was fine Peter…it's not like you want ravish me in my sleep," Neal said with a smirk as he reached over to turn the light on the nightstand. When he couldn't reach it Peter leaned over and shut the light off on the nightstand letting the light from the city hit the far wall and give them a faint light to see by. Leaning over the ex con Peter wanted to kiss him. Neal splayed his hand against Peter's chest. "I've known for a little while now that there is something you want from me, and you can deny it all you want but I know a lie when I see it Peter and I just want you to know that if you want to kiss me I'll let you just once but if you want anything else you will have to work for it I'm tired of being the pursuer of the relationship all it's done is get me hurt," Neal said softly as he moved his hand away. Trying to come up with a lie that Neal wouldn't be able to shoot down Peter realized that Neal was right he sighed. "One free kiss might be enough for now," he remarked as he brushed his lips against Neal's, instantly feeling a shock at how soft Neal's lips were.

Surprised that Peter actually didn't both to argue; Neal was lost for a moment before he realized he was being kissed. When his mind finally caught up the kiss was over. "Goodnight Neal…" Peter said as he moved away and lay on his side of the bed. Neal turned his head and watched the agent fall asleep. Neal gave a small smile as he drifted off to sleep as well.

* * *

><p>When Neal woke the next morning he found the apartment empty and Peter's duffle bag gone from the couch. <em>It's not like we had sex so I really shouldn't have expected him to be here…<em> Neal thought as he got to his feet and limped across the apartment using the furniture to help him. As he made it to the fridge the apartment door opened. Turning to the door Neal was caught off guard by Peter standing there carrying a bag from the corner market. Smiling he held onto the counter for support. "You should be in bed; the doctor said not to get up unless you really had to," Peter said as walked over and hooked his arm around Neal's waist and walked him back to across the small apartment and helped him back into bed. "I was hungry, hey it's after nine shouldn't you be at the office?" Neal asked as he let Peter prop the pillows behind him. "I took the day off, who knows what trouble you'll get into if I leave you alone," Peter remarked as he left the bedside and began to put the food away.

"About that kiss last night… I was caught off guard, that wasn't some of my best work," Neal said with a smirk. Peter looked up he wanted to play off the kiss like it didn't happen but he couldn't help but smile. "I thought it was pretty bad and I couldn't figure out why women and men seem to flock to you if you're that bad a kisser," Peter mocked as he finished putting the food he bought away. Neal gaped like a fish for a moment before beginning to pout. "I'm a great kisser… you just caught me at a moment when I wasn't expecting to be kissed is all, if I had warning then I could have done it right," he argued trying to repair his bruised reputation. Peter smirked he loved to watch Neal react when his feathers were ruffled. "Alright, maybe you're not a bad kisser when you're prepared but caught off guard you are worse than me," Peter added as walked back over to the apartment door before pushing it closed and locking it. "If I give you a chance to redeem yourself then I don't want any of your cohorts in crime to walk in on us," Peter stated as he walked toward the bed.

Neal perked up a bit at the chance to redeem himself when he remembered that he didn't want to be the seducer anymore. "I just remembered that I want you to be the one to seduce me. I'm curious to see if you have what it takes to make me weak in the knees," Neal challenged as he put his arms behind his head. Peter cursed internally he knew and he knew Neal knew that he was terrible at flirting and any form of seduction. "You're enjoying this aren't you?" Peter asked as leaned over and rested his arms on the carved footboard of the bed. Neal smirked and nodded "A little, if I'm going to be stuck in bed I might as well have a little fun," he remarked.

Peter smirked "Well I would say enjoy if for now, but a few days after you get that cast off I'm going to be in D.C. for a weeklong conference. I was going to have someone else watch over you but no one else wants to risk their career to watch you so I've been authorized to take you with me. Now the part you aren't going to like is that you are going to be restricted to the hotel where the conference is being held," he said with a smirk that just screamed no fun for a week. "What… a whole week stuck in a hotel Peter that's not fair, I want to see the museums, I've never been in D.C. for legal reasons I want to do the whole tourist thing," Neal complained as he hit his hand against the comforter of his bed. "I'm going to the conference and I wasn't able to get you clearance for anywhere in the city without an FBI escort so you'll have to deal with it," Peter said being more understanding.

* * *

><p>Neal sulked for weeks in his apartment; Peter had been pulled on joint case with metro police and barely had any time to spend time with him. When the day came to remove the cast Peter had managed to get the day off to keep Neal from worrying about the saw so close to his leg. Once it was over the doctor had Neal walk around with and without a cane for a moment. "Well Mr. Caffrey you are one lucky man, you'll lose this limp in a few days as long as you take it easy and rest your leg every few hours," the doctor said with a smile. "I guess I owe that to Peter he forced me to stay in bed a lot and only let me walk around when I really had to," Neal said as he leaned against the exam table. "Well I don't see why you can't return to desk work right away Mr. Caffrey but you'll have to take it easy on everything else for at least a week and I'll see you back here in a month to check on everything to make sure everything has healed," the doctor said as he shook Neal's and Peter's hand before they left.<p>

Peter watched Neal as he used the cane as they walked to the car. "I managed to book one of the last planes to D.C. tonight so we should get to the airport right away. We need to check in and make sure the paperwork went through to get you on the plane," Peter said as he started his car up. Neal gave a weak smile at the news. "Couldn't we drive to D.C?" Neal asked his voice shaking a bit. "Neal… it's a four hour drive, and only a one hour plane ride and I'll be right next to you for the whole ride so you have nothing to worry about," Peter said as they drove to airport. Neal chewed on his bottom lip as they parked and grabbed their bags and went into the terminal. After checking in at the counter Peter dragged the ex con to the hard plastic chairs and made him sit down. "Well your paperwork cleared and we'll be boarding soon," he said making small talk.

When their section was called to board Neal grabbed his bag and walked onto the plane and took his seat by the window and looked at Peter with another weak smile. As the plane finished boarding and moved onto the tarmac Neal felt his stomach twist into knots, he hadn't been on a plane since Kate's death. Sensing Neal's worry Peter was ready to help keep him calm so when the plane began to move Peter was glad he had talked Hughes into allowing first class seats for Neal's sake especially when he felt Neal slip his hand into his and squeeze. Returning the squeeze until the plane was in the air Peter began to pull his hand away only to find that Neal's grip hadn't loosened. The moment the plane was level the flight attendants began to make their rounds. A very good looking woman walked over and smiled. "I take it you're nervous about flying? Well how about I bring over our wine list maybe that will help," she said with a smile as she left before Peter could object. She returned quickly and handed Neal the small book of wines they had on board.

With a smile Neal looked the list over and ordered two glasses of the second most expensive wine on the list. After a couple minutes the flight attendant came back and handed the two men the glasses. "Enjoy, if there is anything else I could get you please don't hesitate to ask," she said as she walked off. "Neal you know that the FBI is paying for this trip so don't go overboard or I'm going to be hearing about it when we get home next week," Peter said as he looked at the wine before sipping it. Neal smirked. "It's really good wine Peter and we're flying first class. When are we ever going to be able to do this again?" Neal asked enjoying the luxurious life again even if it was only for an hour. As the plane touched down finally Neal was glad it was finally over. "So we're going to flag a ca-" Neal was cut off when he saw a man waving to him and Peter.

"Peter over here," the man called as he met them half way and embraced Peter for a moment before pulling away. Feeling left out Neal stood there and waited to be introduced. "Neal this is my friend best friend Josh we grew up together and I managed to talk him into joining the FBI, he's an agent here in D.C.," Peter said as he followed his friend out of the airport. Following closely Neal sat in the back seat quietly letting Peter catch up with his friend. "So Neal, Peter has told me nothing about you personally all I know is the fourteen inch thick case file that the FBI has on you," Josh said as he glance Neal in the rearview mirror. "Well that's not very nice Peter…I know you have a personal case file on me from my shoe size to where I used to go out for coffee when I was on the run. He even has a list of my favorite wines and restaurants in New York," Neal said as he watched Peter stare out of the passenger side window.

Josh smirked "Yeah that's Peter for you, he is so anal about that kind of stuff, in college he was convinced that his girlfriend was cheating on him so he had me follow her around for a week, of course she caught me and we actually hit it off and started dating… Peter of course almost broke my jaw when he found out but it worked out in the end," Josh said as pulled up to the hotel. Neal hid his smirk as he got out of the car with Peter's help. Josh quickly parked the car and walked in with the two visitors. "Once you check in I'll take Neal upstairs and help him with the bags while you check into the conference for the both of us," Josh said as he took the small suitcase from Peter.

* * *

><p>Once they were checked in Peter walked back with the key cards and handed Neal his. "We're in room seven twenty-four," he said before he walked off to check in. Neal gave a weak smile as he walked to the elevators with Peter's friend, getting into the crowded car Neal jabbed the button for the seventh floor and waited while the car seemed to stop at every floor before stopping on the seventh. Squeezing out of the car Neal and Josh made their way to the room. "I was just wondering Neal… what's your relationship with Peter?" Josh asked as he grabbed Neal's arm and squeezed tightly. "From the sound of it you're a little jealous of me aren't you?" Neal asked with a small smirk. "Oh so you haven't heard yet… oh this is too good, for your information smart guy Peter is being transferred to D.C. and you're not coming with him," Josh said with a smirk as he let Neal go.<p>

Neal stood there for a moment and let the information sink in, holding onto his key card he left Josh in the hall and walked down to the room he was sharing with Peter and went inside. Josh smirked and walked back to the elevators and punched the button to go down, when the doors in front of him opened he came face to face with Peter and handed him his bag. "Hey, I was thinking tonight the three of us should have dinner in the restaurant downstairs my treat… and by my treat I mean the FBI," Josh said with a smile. Peter laughed "I'll have Neal ready and we'll meet you there tonight at six," Peter said as he left his friend in the hall and went to his hotel room and opened the door. Walking into the room Peter found Neal sitting by the window and looking at the view.

"We've been invited to dinner tonight by Josh; he's going to meet us downstairs at six," Peter said as he tossed his bag into the closet. Neal nodded and didn't look away from the view of the park with the missing leaves and the white dusted ground from the snow that had begun to fall. "Alright what's got you acting like this?" he asked as he walked over to Neal and stood by the chair and put his hands on the arms of the chair and kept Neal trapped to the chair. Neal turned from the window and looked at the agent. "It's nothing just some jet lag is all," Neal lied as raised his eyes and locked eyes with Peter. "Neal just tell me what's wrong, you don't get jet lag from a one hour flight, something happened between arriving at the hotel and when you came up to the room," Peter said as he leaned in closer. "I don't want to talk about it Peter, why you don't go talk to your best friend… since you're choosing him over me anyway," Neal accused as he got to his feet and pushed the agent away.

Peter grabbed Neal's arm and stopped him. "I'm not choosing Josh over you, what are you talking about Neal?" Peter asked as he pushed Neal back until he was against the window ledge. "Josh told me… he told me you're leaving New York and moving here to work and that I wasn't going with you… obviously you chose him because you never told me about any move," Neal said his voice laced with a deeply hurt tone. Peter cracked a smile at that. "For a street smart book smart con you're pretty stupid Neal… I'm not moving down here forever it's a temporary transfer to D.C. White Collar Crimes, my former mentor asked me a year ago to do it because he was dying of cancer and he passed away last month so after the conference I'm taking you home and packing and then flying back next week," Peter said calmly as he ran his hand up Neal's arm.

Flushing lightly Neal looked down. "I bet you think I'm stupid and spoiled for acting like this," Neal said as he kept his gaze down. "I don't think your stupid at all and Josh should have never said that to you out of the blue like that. He's just a little jealous that we're so close," Peter said softly as he pulled away and dropped on the bed and kicked his shoes off. "So how long will you be gone for?" Neal asked as he found himself walking forward toward the bed. "Six months to a year while we look for a replacement, then I'll be back in New York," the agent said as he looked up at Neal. "I won't go back to jail will I? I can't go back to jail Peter…I didn't make too many friends with my escape you know that, please don't send me back there," Neal pleaded as he felt Peter grab his arm and pull him closer. "Don't worry you're not going back to jail, Diana is taking over the team, she's going to be in charge while I'm gone so please try to behave… for me?" Peter asked with a small smile. "I'll try… but you know how I like to stir up trouble," Neal said as he let the older man pull him until his legs were brushing against Peter's.


	4. Chapter 4

**So sorry for the delay, the holidays came up so quickly and I was given a new work schedule so I couldn't get to writing I was so tired and my beta was a little busy. So please read and enjoy and pretty please review for Neal's safety only you can prevent him from being seriously injured or hurt by my twisted words hehe loves and hugs ~BunBunBabe  
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**Chapter 4: Danger**

"Neal don't even joke, I'm not going to be able to protect you while I'm away so any trouble you get into is going to be dealt with by Diana and Hughes..." Peter said as he pulled Neal even closer. "I know but I wouldn't be the same person if I actually followed the rules now would I Agent Burke," Neal said with a smirk as straddled Peter's lap and kissed the agent keeping a sly look on his face. Peter pushed the younger man away for a moment." What happened to not wanting to be the seducer anymore?" he asked keeping his hands on Neal's hips. "We're here for a week Peter you can seduce me later, right now we should just enjoy the time together before dinner," Neal remarked as he moved his arms around Peter's neck. "Before we go too far I want to ask, do you really want to do this... risk our friendship and your marri-" Neal was cut off abruptly by Peter's lips on his and the older man rolling over and pinning him to the bed. Before they could get hot and heavy there was a loud knock on the door.

Pulling away, Peter yanked Neal up into the seated position on the bed and made his way over to the door and checked himself in the mirror in the bathroom before opening the door. Josh smirked at Peter "There's a cocktail going on now it isn't official but some greenhorn is buying everyone drinks so hurry up before he spends all his money and stops paying, come on maybe we can get a bottle of good wine out of him," Josh said trying to get his friend away from his new rival and make Peter fall for him." Sorry I'm not a big wine drinker but Neal is, take him so I can sleep and that way you two can get to know each other better since you two have never met before and probably won't see each other for a long time," Peter said implying that he knew what Josh had said to Neal. Unsure of what to say Josh nodded and walked into the room as Peter opened the door for him.

Neal hid his pout as Josh walked up to the bed. "As much as I would like to go for free wine I'm beat since I was up late last night painting I'm going to take a nap before we have dinner tonight if you don't mind we'll have wine then my treat," Neal offered with a charming smile. Josh chewed his bottom lip for a moment. "Fine, I'll later I guess, you do look like hell Caffrey I'm not sure any amount of sleep would fix that," he remarked with a smirk. Neal bristled at the remark that he wasn't good looking and stood up "I'm very good looking in fact you're the one who looks like you need ten years of sleep to look human and right now you resemble an old dog looking to be put down," Neal said as he walked toward Josh. Peter moved in quickly to put out the soon to be fire between his best friend and partner. "Alright you two calm down before I'm forced to separate the both of you," Peter said as he put a hand on Neal and Josh's chests.

Both men glared daggers for a moment. Neal pulled away and took his place back on the bed although he turned away and crossed his arms over his chest in a huff. Peter sighed "Josh, why don't you go before this ends badly..."Peter remarked as he put a hand on his friend's shoulder. Walking away from the bed Josh walked to the door and grabbed the handle. "You're still welcome to join me for drinks Peter; we could have a lot of fun unless you want to stay here with him," he said nodding his head toward Neal. Peter shook his head. "Goodbye Josh we'll see you at dinner later," Peter said as he pushed his friend out of the room and closed the door behind him with a snap. Walking back to the bed Peter sat on the edge and fell back so he was looking up at Neal.

"Are you going to be in a mood all night because of what he said?" he asked reaching up and brushing his finger up Neal's cheek. "He called me ugly Peter… you have no idea what that's like to someone who uses their good looks to get ahead in life. It's like a slap in the face; I mean am I really not that handsome anymore?" Neal asked a pout marring his good looks. Peter sat up on his elbows. "Josh is just jealous because you're younger, smarter, and drop dead sexy and we're sharing a room together," the agent said as he moved his fingers into Neal's hair that had managed to flop out of its usual style and tightened his hand into a gentle fist and pulled Neal into a two minute long kiss before letting go. "Does that make it all better? "Peter asked with a smirk only to get pounced on and enter a whirlwind of kisses and moans; Peter found himself back in control and missing his shirt. He knew Neal was skilled but he never imagined him to be so good at removing clothes in just a matter of minutes. "I'll admit you do have some skills that are useful," Peter joked.

Ignoring the joke Neal nipped at Peter's jaw playfully. Peter moved his hand up Neal's back and felt the younger man shiver at his cold hand. Neal pulled back and looked at the agent seriously. "Peter… you realize that we can never go back to just being friends," Neal said softly his hair hanging in his eyes. "Who says I would want that, I've caught you and now I'm making you mine so you never leave," Peter said softly as he brushed his hand against Neal's cheek. Neal gave a soft smile, "There's one thing I never told you Peter," Neal said softly as he pulled away. "One thing, Neal you have a million things that you keep from me, what could make this different?" Peter asked as he let Neal sit up on the bed.

Neal pursed his lips for a moment. "That may be true but there is one important thing that you really need to know before get involved…" Neal said being serious. Sitting up Peter put his arms around Neal and pulled him close. "Whatever it is Neal it's not going to change anything between us," Peter remarked softly as he kissed Neal's temple to calm him down. Sighing softly Neal closed his eyes and let Peter hold him. "Keller keeps stalking me because we used to date until I realized how dangerous he was, when I started dating Kate he was always in the shadows and if he finds out about us he'll destroy your career and your marriage just to punish me," Neal said closing his eyes and putting his head against Peter's shoulder. "The worst punishment is not having you right here, so no matter what I'm not going to let Keller scare me away from claiming the one prize I want," he remarked.

Turning his head Neal gave a weak smile before he kissed Peter. "I'm sure we can make this work if we try but I want you to make all the choices of how far we should go and how fast, you're the one who has everything to lose if this goes wrong," Neal said as he tried to ignore the nervousness in his voice. Before they could kiss again Peter's cell phone began to go off. Moving to the night stand he grabbed it and answered the phone. "Elizabeth, yes we got here on time and Neal did fine on the plane," Peter said as he began to get up off the bed only to be grabbed and yanked back down. "I want to talk to Elizabeth too," Neal said before Peter pushed him away and watched him bounce on the bed. After a brief chat Peter hung up and looked at Neal who had taken to feigning sleep. Smirking Peter laid back and put his arms around Neal and held him close. "This is nice," Neal mumbled as he nuzzled against Peter's shoulder and lay there just enjoying the feeling of being loved.

* * *

><p>An hour before dinner Neal crawled out of bed and made his way into the bathroom to shower and change. Walking out of the bathroom dressed in dark pants and a black turtleneck he smirked as he walked over to the bed and sat on the edge. "Hey… I'm going to head down early and knock back a few glasses of wine before having to sit through dinner with your friend," Neal remarked as he finished drying his hair with a towel. "Just make sure to stay out of trouble Neal I don't have a lot of pull down here like I do in New York," Peter mumbled as he rolled over and looked up at the ex con. Neal smirked, "I'll try but you know trouble always finds me," he said with a smirk as he got up from the bed and grabbed is key car off the dresser and left the room.<p>

When he reached the restaurant Neal started to make a beeline toward the bar until he saw Josh at a table look at him like a predator stalking its prey from across the watering hole. Moving toward the table Neal sat across from Josh and stared at him while FBI ate and talked around them. "Planning an escape is that why you're down here so early?" Josh asked as he grabbed the wine glass and sipped his wine. Neal bristled but he knew to keep his mouth shut he knew he somewhat promised he would stay out of trouble. "I came down to see what kind of restaurant it was before dinner so I know what wine to order, I wasn't expecting you to be here," Neal said keeping calm. "I was surprised you were even let in, I didn't know a high class place let in pets… or cheap whores," Josh added with a smirk as he sipped his wine. Neal tightened his hands into fists as Peter came up behind him and clapped him on the shoulder.

Straightening in his seat Neal smirked when Peter sat beside him. "Josh I hope you and Neal are getting along," Peter remarked as the waiter came over and handed them the menus. Neal quickly ordered a glass of wine as he looked the menu over. When the waiter returned they ordered their meals. Neal took to sitting quietly listening to the stories from Peter and Josh's days in college. Pretending to feign interest in what Josh's college story about him and Peter in their favorite class Neal slid his free hand onto Peter's leg and gave it a light squeeze as he moved up a little farther. Shaking Neal off quickly he continued to talk to his friend. Josh hadn't missed a thing turning his attention to Neal he smirked.

"Peter's told me you're skilled in many things, painting, singing, forging signatures but you can't be skilled in everything, I bet you two hundred you can't play the violin," Josh remarked as he flicked his thumb at the man playing the violin across the room. Neal smirked and stood up, "I'll take that bet" Neal remarked as he walked off to the man by the band and whispered to him and slipped him a hundred dollars to use his violin for a few minutes. Everyone had stopped talking when the music stopped and looked over at Neal who had taken center stage of the small platform. When he was ready he placed the bow on the strings and took a deep breath before he began to play.

The song was haunting… it was a quick tempo and Neal's fingers danced across the strings as the bow moved in a blur. Peter felt his mouth hang open a bit at the shock that Neal could play such a song that was chilling and also sensual. Josh cursed under his breath as Neal played the song perfectly. Neal smirked as he played as his good looks seemed to be amplified by the song he played. When the song came to an end he lowered the violin from under his chin and bowed. Everyone was stunned for a moment before they clapped as Neal walked back to his seat and sat beside Peter. "Where did you learn to play like that?" Peter asked as he realized he was in love with Neal even more. "I actually never had any formal training I just sort of picked it up as I traveled; that was the first time I even played for a crowd I was pretty nervous to tell you the truth. The Devil's Trill Sonata is one of the hardest pieces to play even to this day, I'm surprised that I managed to play it without any mistakes," Neal said with a smirk as Josh threw a pair of folded hundreds at Neal. "You did good Caffrey…and I want to apologize for my behavior before and how about I make it up to you tomorrow, I'm not going to the first panel so why don't I take you to the museum since I bet Peter won't let you go on your own," Josh offered.

Wary at first Neal thought about it for a moment. "Well I've always wanted to see the art around here legally and I never got a chance to walk around this city ever. So yes that would be nice Josh," Neal said with a smile as the waiter arrived with their food. Peter was glad that his friends were at least trying to get along. After dinner Peter passed on dessert, "I'm going to turn in early, I want to be early for the first panel tomorrow, Neal can I trust you to be upstairs in a few minutes?" he asked as the ex con looked up from the small booklet of desserts. "I'm going to be up in a minute I'm just going to finish my wine before I turn in," Neal remarked as he put the menu down and picked up his glass again. Peter nodded and left the restaurant and went back up to his and Neal's room.

Right away Neal put his glass back down and looked at Josh. "I don't know what you're up to but just know anything you have planned is going to fail and that's all I'm going to say for the night…" Neal said as he got up from the table and left leaving Josh with the check. Walking to the elevator and going up to his floor Neal pushed some hair out of his eyes as he walked down the hall and pulled out his keycard and opened the door. As soon as he got inside and shut the door Neal was shoved up against the door. "I guess it isn't nice to make a federal agent wait," Neal remarked with a smirk as he grabbed Peter by the back of his head and pulled him it a heart stopping kiss. Peter pulled away and dragged Neal to the bed and threw him down.

Bouncing on the bed Neal stretched out covering the entire bed with his body. Before he could say a word Peter had crawled onto the bed and leaned over to look at the ex con and keep him pinned to the bed. "We're going to play a game. For each time I do something you like you have to admit to a crime you committed that I don't know about," Peter remarked Neal smirked. "Normally I would ask for a lawyer but this might weird him out," Neal said softly with a chuckle. Peter placed a light kiss on Neal's neck.

"I took ten dollars out of your wallet last week to pay the take out guy," Neal admitted as he enjoyed the attention he was getting. Peter gave a light growl and bit down on Neal's neck. Trying to keep a clear head the ex con closed his eyes and tried to keep his thoughts coherent, "I…I… forged your name… on a check…to pay me back for…uh…I forget," Neal mumbled his train of conscious thought having crashed moments before. Pulling away Peter looked at Neal. "How much did you take Neal?" Peter asked being serious. Neal fought through his clouded mind to come to the answer. "Just…two hundred, but I paid you right back," he said as he caught his breath. "As long as you paid me back…but if you ever take money from me again I'll put you back in jail, you know what forget the game I don't think I should hear any more or I will have to put you in jail," Peter said before going back to teasing Neal's neck.

Neal laughed softly. "One more… I stole you from your wife," Neal mumbled as he pulled Peter up into another kiss that could melt a boulder. Peter pushed all his nerves aside as he moved close to his goal by removing Neal's clothes as the ex con fumbled to turn the table light off though he has struggling with concentrating on the smallest task. Pulling away Peter sat up and turned the lights off and went back to what he had been doing on Neal's sculpture perfect body. Neal chewed his bottom lip as he tried not to moan loudly. Peter smirked as he found Neal's weak spots. Neal's self-control broke down and turned him into a puddle of human goo.

_I'll have to remember this for work, every little spot and every little moan. To remind him to make him do what I want him to do,_ Peter thought as he tried ignoring Neal's roaming hands across his back and digging his nails into his back. "Oh god," Neal moaned. Peter smirked and brushed Neal's hair out of his eyes. "You can just call me Peter…" the agent said.

* * *

><p>Rolling onto his stomach Neal sighed. "That was the best sex I've had in a real long time," Neal said as he turned his head and looked at Peter. "It should be, I gave my best… well better than my best," Peter mumbled as he started to feel his energy draining. Neal smirked and sat up and let his eyes adjust to the darkness as he looked for his pants. "Neal…what are you doing?" Peter slurred as he fought the pull of sleep. "I'm hungry and I'm going to order some room service it's not late, I'll keep it down I promise you just get some sleep," Neal said as he started to get out of bed only to be pulled back under the covers. "Food later, sleep now," Peter said as he put his arms around Neal and pulled him close. Forgetting his hunger Neal gave a soft chuckle and closed his eyes as sleep piled on him until he was asleep. Peter gave a small smile and pulled Neal up against his body and held him in his arms protectively for the night. Neal cuddled up against the other man and allowed himself to be held as he slept.<p>

* * *

><p>Josh sighed as he walked into his apartment; dropping his mail on the kitchen table he searched his fridge for a beer. <em> I can't believe I was called to work this late and got chewed out for my paperwork again; it really sucks but at least in a week Peter's going to be here for a year away from that con.<em> He thought as he started to go through his bills. As he got to the last envelope he noticed that he had dropped on the floor addressed to him even though it didn't have a stamp on it. Opening the envelope a small card fell out with just a phone number on it and a message to call the number. Grabbing his phone of the table Josh dialed the number and waited as the phone rang.

"Mr. Worth…I see you got my card…" the voice on the other end said with a smirk in his voice.

"Yeah I did… now who the hell are you and how do you know where I live?" Josh asked as he started to pace around the kitchen his beer sitting un-drunk on the table. Grabbing his beer he took a long swig of it to calm his nerves.

"Who I am and how I found you is not important right now; what is important is that when the time comes and I call on you for help you'll help me. It would be very worth your while Mr. Worth I can promise you that…I'll be in touch," the man said before hanging up. Josh hung up and dropped his phone on his table and tossed his beer into the sink the glass bottle breaking from the force of his toss. "What is this some sort of spy movie…?" Josh mumbled as he left his small kitchen and walked into his room and stripped out of his clothes and dropped onto his bed. "Well if it's going to be worth my while maybe it will be money and maybe I can get out of this apartment," Josh mumbled as he tried to get comfortable on his bed.

* * *

><p>As morning rose over the city Peter woke early and found Neal still wrapped around him. Prying himself free Peter showered and dressed before he ordered room service. When the food arrived the ex con began to wake. "Neal hurry up and eat Josh is going to be here soon to take you to the museum and then out to lunch," Peter said as he worked on a piece of toast. Groaning softly Neal got out of bed and located some sweatpants to wear while he ate. With extreme bedhead Neal walked over to the table and sat down. "I miss my view in New York…" Neal mumbled as he picked at his food. "Don't pick and eat, I have to be at the opening announcements in three minutes so Josh is going to pick you up here so be on time," Peter said as he finished up and got up to leave.<p>

"So no good morning or I had a great time last night?" Neal asked as he started to eat. Peter smirked "Oh where my manners, Good morning Neal and last night are was amazing," Peter said as he straightened his tie. "Better… and I promise to be on my best behavior today," Neal promised not crossing any fingers as Peter left the room, when he was done Neal showered and dressed for the day, slipping his phone into his pocket he grabbed his key card and went to the lobby to meet Josh. After a few minutes Josh arrived and looked at Neal. "Let's go Caffrey it's bad enough I have to spend the day with you," Josh said as he grabbed Neal by the arm and squeezed tightly as he pulled him out of the hotel. "I left my coat in my room…" Neal said trying to pull away. "You don't need it, it's not that cold out," Josh said as a cold gust of wind blew between the buildings. Shivering at the cold air Neal bit back a whimper as Josh dragged him down the sidewalk.

When they got to the museum Neal cheered up a bit as they walked around and looked at the art. After four hours Josh was bored to death of watching Neal talk with the tour guide and other patrons about the art around them. Once Neal was done talking Josh grabbed Neal by the arm and dragged him to the restaurant in the museum. "You can only order two things and they better be cheap… I'm not paying for you to feast," Josh hissed as he tightened his grip on Neal's already sore arm. "You're hurting me and I don't think Peter will like to hear that you're treating me like this," Neal said under his breath as Josh led him to a table in the corner. Josh let go of Neal's arm and grabbed the small menu and shoved it into Neal's hands. "I'm not hungry but I would like something to drink, maybe some hot coffee or tea," Neal said softly.

"Alright then, stay there and if you move an inch I'll shoot you," Josh said as he got up from the table and went to wait in line. Neal waited until he was alone to roll his sleeve up. Looking at the dark bruise on his wrist Neal gingerly touched it and winced. "Son, are you alright?" an older security guard asked as he looked over the small wall at Neal. Pushing his sleeve down quickly as Josh returned with his drink. "Um no but thank you for asking," Neal said giving a weak smile to the guard hoping he understood him. Neal took the drink from Josh as he sat down. Lowering his eyes Neal waited for the guard to leave. "He asked me if I need directions anywhere since he said I looked lost," he lied. Nodding slightly Josh looked around and noticed the guard was staring back at him as he talked into his radio. "We're leaving," he said grabbing Neal's bruised wrist and pulling him toward the side door that led to the sculpture garden.


	5. Chapter 5

**( Here is chapter five, and you know what makes the chapters move faster... reviews and lots of them... if you don't review then Neal gets very sad and he will cry so please post to keep Neal happy)  
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**Chapter 5:**

"Can't we just go back to the hotel I'm cold and tired," Neal said as he pulled his already bruised arm out of Josh's grasp. "Oh what the FBI's pampered pet con can't stand a little cold air… what's going to happen when Peter wants to take you to a baseball game, you're going to hate it that's why you're not good for him," Josh said as he put his arm around Neal and led him into the sculpture garden. "I would force myself to enjoy it for his sake if he asked me but Peter knows I don't like sports," Neal remarked trying to ignore Josh's word as they walked toward the fountain and stopped. "Yeah well I love sports, so of course I would go with him then we would have some cold beers at a sports bar… you do know what those are right?" he asked with a smirk. "Of course I do, just because I don't go to one doesn't mean I don't know what it is," Neal argued as he bit back another shiver.

Josh lost his smirk for a moment then put it right back. "Well there are a few here in DC and did you forget Peter's going to be down here for a whole year without you fucking up my plans…I give Peter a week before he forgets all about you and is on all fours at my place," Josh said with a cold chuckle. Neal tightened his hand into a fist and punched Josh in the mouth. "Don't talk about Peter like that…ever! You're worthless and don't deserve his friendship or his love," Neal said as he started to walk away. "DON'T YOU EVER CALL ME WORTHLESS!" Josh yelled as he grabbed Neal and pulled him back with enough force and let him go. Neal tripped over the low wall of the fountain and fell into the icy water that hadn't been drained yet for the season. The shock of the cold water soaking him to the bone Neal slowly got to his feet and started to climb out of the water his wet clothes sticking to his body as he shivered. "You look like a drowned rat Caffrey," Josh remarked with a chuckle as he put his hand on Neal's chest and gave him another shove back into the icy water. Moving through the water Neal went to climb out as he tried to ignore his shaking body while wrapping his arms around himself as he headed for the sidewalk outside the hedged in area surrounding the garden.

Pulling his cellphone out Neal gave a weak smile when he saw it was still working. Struggling with the cold Neal started to head back to the hotel on his own even though it felt like it was taking forever and his body was freezing with each step. When he made it back Neal ignored the looks from the other guests as he walked to the elevators and got into an empty car. Pulling his wallet out Neal peeled his key card out of the slot and managed to get the hotel room door opened he made a beeline for the thermostat and turned it up as high as it would go as he stripped out of his wet clothes and dumped them on the bathroom floor before changing into his warmest clothes and burying himself under the fresh warm blankets.

* * *

><p>When the conference ended for the day Peter went up to his and Neal's room to change for dinner and was he hit by a wall of heat as he opened the door. "Neal… it's like an oven in here," Peter remarked as he turned the heat down from eighty to sixty-six. Propping the door open to let the heat out Peter walked to the bed and found Neal to be feverish and sweating. Peter hurried into the bathroom and came out with a cold, damped washcloth which he placed immediately on Neal's forehead. "Neal come on wake up, I know you're not feeling well but I've got to take you to the doctor," Peter said calmly as Neal slowly opened his eyes and groaned.<p>

"Pe…er… no, go away…mmm I'm sick…don't wanna wor…"Neal mumbled before he was out light again.

Peter gave a small smile and put his hand on the side of Neal's face and pushed his sweat damp hair back. "No work today Neal but you do have to get up and go to the doctor's to find out what's wrong with you," Peter said as he tried to wake Neal again only to get him to turn away and wrap himself tighter in the blankets.

Peter sighed as he knew that fighting a sick Neal was going to be more trouble than it was worth so he decided to go and get some over-the-counter medication instead. So he called the front desk and asked for directions to the closest pharmacy. After hanging up Peter managed to wake Neal up again. "I'm going to the pharmacy next door I'll be back as soon as I can, you just rest and stay on this bed," Peter said as he grabbed his key card, coat and phone before leaving the room and making sure the door was locked to keep him safe. Peter walked into the pharmacy ignoring the cheesy music and the displays as he walked straight to the counter in the back. "Hi, I need something for a high grade fever and it can't be pills; my friend can be is stubborn when it comes to taking medication, in fact I can't even get him to go to a doctor right now," Peter said as he looked around.

The woman behind the counter came out from behind the counter and walked to the medicine and grabbed a box of liquid medicine for multiple symptoms. "Just follow the instructions on the back of the box and also get him to drink water every so often and just keep him cool," she said as she walked to the back of the store.

Looking at the medicine Peter walked to the front counter to pay for the medicine and left the store only to come face to face with a wave of snowflakes the size of baseball cards. Grumbling about the snow Peter hurried back to his room to find Neal sleeping on his side with the washcloth sitting in a small pile on the floor. Sighing Peter put the bag down and got another washcloth and soaked it in cold water before returning and putting it on Neal's head. "Mmm… no more cold water…let me go Josh…" Neal mumbled as he reached out and waved Peter away with his bruised wrist showing. Peter grabbed Neal's hand and looked at the dark bruise. "Come on Neal wake up…" he said as he opened the box and poured out the amount Neal had to take. Neal opened his eyes and looked at the dark purple liquid for a moment before drinking it down and retreating back to his nest of blankets.

Walking into the bathroom Peter filled a glass with water and brought it to the nightstand before he turned the television on and muted it as he picked up the phone and called room service and ordered dinner. After ten minutes of weather and bad sitcoms Peter answered the door when the food arrived and slipped the guy five bucks as a tip before closing the door. Neal opened his eyes to the smell of chicken soup and the faint smell of bacon. Sitting up and letting the heavy comforter bunch up around his waist Neal looked at the table and rubbed his eyes. "Hey sleeping beauty, how are you feeling?" Peter asked as he started to eat his BLT. "Sick...and hungry," Neal replied as he dragged himself to the table and sat down and looked at the bowl of soup. "How did you get them to deliver this, they only serve this at the restaurant," Neal said as he took the spoon offered to him. "I pulled some strings and got it, but after you eat I want you to do one of two things, you can either go right back to bed and rest of you can tell me what happened today," Peter said as he finished his sandwich.

Neal looked at his soup for a moment "I'll just get some more rest after dinner," Neal said as he stirred his soup to let the steam out and wanting for his soup to cool. "Alright then before you do; why don't you explain to me why there is a pile of wet clothes on the bathroom floor or why you have a hand shaped bruise on your wrist?" Peter asked with a serious face. "I fell…and hit my arm on a fountain," Neal said as he started to eat his soup. Dropping the subject Peter finished his meal and watched Neal until he was done. Ignoring the stillness in the air Neal got up and crawled back into bed and pulled the covers around him.

"Alright if you're not going to tell me the truth I'm going to head down to the bar to have a drink and catch the game, that way you can get some sleep and hopefully get better quicker, I'll be back in an hour so you better be in bed," Peter said as he took the tray and brought it out of the room and placed it on the floor before heading down to the small sports bar off the lobby. Grabbing a seat at the bar Peter ordered a beer and watched the recap of the games that had been on during the day.

* * *

><p>Neal sat up and grabbed the phone off the cradle and dialed the Burke's home number and waited until Elizabeth picked up. "Hey Elizabeth I just called to see how you were… and if you missed us," Neal said trying to keep a smile in his voice. Smiling Elizabeth sat on the front couch. "Of course I missed you two, now Neal you don't normally call unless you have a problem, now what have you done?" she asked keeping a stern but friendly voice. The ex con sighed. "I met Peter's friend Josh and we didn't exactly hit it off in fact he hates me, he bruised my arm and threw me into a freezing cold fountain…I can't tell Peter because I would be destroying his friendship but now he's mad at me for not saying what's wrong," Neal said his voice wavering a bit. "Neal you know Peter wouldn't be mad at you for telling the truth, the moment you get the chance to just tell him what happened and he won't be mad at you I promise… now be good for Peter and try not to steal anything down there that includes the towels," Elizabeth said with a smile that made Neal give a small smile as well. "Thanks Elizabeth, I'll call you tomorrow to tell you how everything went," Neal said before hanging up and putting the phone down slipping back under the covers Neal turned the light off and tried to find sleep.<p>

Two beers and two chat shows in Peter found himself tired from a long day of listening to other agents drone on about ways to catch criminals. So after finishing up his second beer he left the money on the bar and went back upstairs. When he got to the room he found Neal in bed and sound asleep. He reached over and felt Neal's head and found it much cooler. At least his fever is going down, I just wish he would tell me what's wrong, oh well I'll find out in the end I always do, Peter thought as he changed and got ready for bed. As he got into bed he managed to get a better look at the bruise on Neal's wrist and from that angle he could see it was indeed the shape of a hand, although from the angle Peter could tell Neal had been pulled behind someone else. Leaning down he placed a light kiss on the darkest part of the bruise before pulling Neal into his arms and shutting the light on his nightstand off for the night. The orange glow of the city seemed muted under the still falling snow. Peter knew with Neal trapped in a hotel room he would bother him for the rest of the week with text messages and pictures of how bored he was. Smiling at the thought Peter fell asleep and held his pet con close.

* * *

><p>As the week went by Neal was trapped in bed watching TV, ordering room service, calling Elizabeth and texting Peter his condition until the last day of the conference when he felt well enough to leave the room and join Peter for a late lunch with the director of the DC White Collar Crimes Division. Neal parked himself on the chair next to Peter. "Mr. Caffrey…it's nice to finally be able to meet you and put a voice to the picture; Agent Burke said you had been sick this week. It's a shame you missed a great panel on new age art crimes we could have picked your brain on stage it would have been fun," the director said with a smirk. "Oh I don't do well in front of large crowds…I was very nervous at my own trial," Neal joked. Peter chuckled and picked up the menu and looked at it.<p>

After a moment he felt the air get tense and Looking up from the menu he saw Josh take the open seat across from Neal. "Hey Josh what are you doing here?" Peter asked keeping the tone friendly. "Well since Neal will be heading back to New York I thought I would have lunch with you guys to say goodbye… well goodbye to Neal," Josh remarked rubbing it in that Neal and Peter would be apart for a year at most. "You know we might have to steal Mr. Caffrey from the New York office ever once in a while with the impressive work he's done up there we could use the help boosting our numbers," the director said oblivious to the trouble between the two men.

Neal smiled. "I wouldn't mind that at all, if I can get my work release shortened by any means," Neal joked as he took a sip of his water. After lunch Peter and Neal grabbed their bags and hailed a cab to the airport. "Hey Peter…you are coming back with me right?" Neal asked worried that he was going to be alone. "I was hoping that you wouldn't ask this, but I've been asked to start earlier then I was scheduled to… El already had a lot of my clothes and some personal stuff shipped down to the place I'm renting. So I'm just dropping you off at the airport, El offered to pick you up so just look for her at the terminal," Peter said as the cab pulled up to the airport. Neal gave a weak smile and watched as Neal got his bag and waved him off as the cab pulled away.

Walking through the terminal Neal ignored the loneliness and the feeling he was being watched by thousands of people. As he walked through the checkpoints he ignored the TSA agents looking him over like he was hiding something until he checked out. Walking to the gate he handed his ticket over and found that his plane was just starting to board and he was allowed to board. Once he was on the plane Neal looked out the window and watched as the ground crew moved around. Sighing softly Neal put his head against the cool glass as he waited for the plan to take off. Once they were in the air Neal ordered a glass of wine as he watched the clouds fly by. Yawning at the boredom around him Neal almost jumped out of his seat when the captain announced they would be landing soon.

After leaving the plane Neal looked around and saw Elizabeth waiting for him. Walking over Neal smiled, "Boy I'm glad to be home…that was a long week," Neal said as he gave his partner's wife a hug. "Well then I insist you come over for dinner tonight that way you can enjoy a nice meal and you can tell me everything that happened," Elizabeth said as she walked with Neal to the baggage claim and he retrieved his bag. Elizabeth smiled and led Neal to her car. "Diana called; she wanted me to remind you to be on time tomorrow and no goofing around… I think she means business since she's taken over while Peter's gone," Elizabeth said with a small smile as Neal sighed. "Great… that means I actually have to do work and paperwork," Neal complained as they got into the car and drove to the Burke's house.

* * *

><p>Neal sighed as he looked at the buildings and the people. "Hey don't be too upset Peter said he would come up to visit when he could, did you ever tell him about what happened with Josh?" Elizabeth asked changing the subject. Shaking his head Neal looked over at his partner's wife. "I chickened out…I couldn't say anything," Neal said as rubbed his eyes. Pulling up to the house Elizabeth parked her car and got out with Neal behind her. "Well we'll talk more about this at dinner, I'll get started on that now since it has to bake, and if you like you can take Satchmo for a walk while I get started. I didn't get to give him a nice long walk for a few days why don't you take him to the park for a while," she offered giving her guest something to do for a while.<p>

"Of course, come on Satch…" Neal said as he patted his leg for the loveable dog to follow him as he grabbed the leash from the hook. Hooking the leash onto his collar Neal left the house and made his way down the sidewalk toward the park. Looking at the view around him Neal gave a weak smile, he felt emptiness around him stemming from the fact that Peter was so far away. Walking into the park the ex con sighed and ignored the other people walking by him. Heading around the small pond Neal took a seat on the bench by the pond and scratched Satchmo's head as he looked out at the park view around him. "It's good to be home buddy…but it's going to be hard without Peter around," Neal remarked as he scratched the dog behind the ears. When enough time passed Neal got up and started to head back to the Burke's house.

Going inside Neal unlatched the dog leash and sat on the couch. "Neal could you come give me a hand, I've got a bride on the phone and I need you to stir the tomatoes for the lasagna," Elizabeth said as she ran upstairs. Going into the kitchen Neal took care of the tomatoes and got a glass of water for himself. When Elizabeth came back downstairs she saw Neal sitting on the couch lost in deep thought. "Is there something wrong Neal?" she asked walking over and sat on the couch beside the younger man. "Hmm oh no I was just thinking about how I'm going to deal with work without Peter there to have my back when I screw up," Neal said giving a weak smile. "Nothing will happen, now you just relax and I'll keep making dinner," Elizabeth said as she ruffled Neal's hair and left him alone.

After a wonderful homemade dinner Neal retrieved his suitcase from Elizabeth's car and hailed a cab to go to June's. When he got there he was greeted by the older woman and chatted briefly as he walked up to his apartment. When he got inside he looked around and saw that his place had been kept clean for him. Dropping his suitcase in his closet Neal walked into his bathroom and took a quick shower and changed into a pair of sweatpants and a large tee shirt. Looking for something to drink in his fridge Neal noticed a box on his table, quirking his eye brow he left his apartment and found June heading down the hall. "Oh you're out of the shower, that package just arrived for you so I brought it in, I hope you don't mind?" June asked with a smile. Neal returned the smile "Not at all, thanks June…" Neal said as he returned into his apartment and grabbed a kitchen knife and poked the box a few times to make sure it wasn't anything dangerous.

Once he was sure it was safe Neal cut the tape on the top and opened the flaps to reveal a small jeweler's pouch and a folded letter on heavy cotton rag paper. Opening the letter carefully he began to read it quietly to "To my former diamond in the rough…I know this is your favorite…" Neal read as he put the letter down and picked up the pouch and turned it over in his hand. Neal felt his eyes go wide as the Hope Diamond fell out of the bag in its original ornate diamond setting. Holding the diamond carefully in his hand he found his way to the kitchen table and sat down to look at it. "Oh God it's real, but I didn't hear anything about a break in at the Smithsonian which means there is a forgery in its place and a good one at that," Neal mumbled to himself as he looked at the diamond and contemplated what to do next with it. Putting the diamond back in the bag Neal walked over to the bookcase and pulled down his hollowed out book and dropped the pouch in it and put the book back on the shelf. _ Out of sight out of mind…for now at least…_ Neal thought as he walked over to his bed and dropped onto it face first. "This is going to be a long year…" Neal mumbled into his comforter.

* * *

><p>Three weeks later Neal found himself at his desk at nine on a Friday night finishing up some paperwork alone at his desk. Sighing as he rubbed his eyes to get rid of the sleep Neal looked back at the paperwork in front of him. "You look like you could use a cup of coffee," a voice said startling Neal out of his haze. Looking up Neal smiled "Peter… what are you doing here?" he asked getting up and walking over to the FBI agent. "I finally have a weekend off, I've been so busy that I didn't get to come home to visit until now, I do have to leave Sunday night so I was thinking I'll come to your place tonight, go home early tomorrow and surprise El and then Sunday morning get ready to leave," Peter said as he looked at the papers on Neal's desk. "I'll just bring them home to finish Diana won't even notice," Neal remarked as he packed his messenger bag.<p>

"I see she's really taking slave driver to a whole new level…what did you do to get this much paperwork?" Peter asked as he leaned against the wall. "I may have corrected her a couple times during a briefing on a case and she paid me back by dumping this on me," Neal said as he shut his table lamp off and following Peter to the elevator. "You know she hates when you do that... I guess you deserve this punishment then. But you also deserve a reward for working so well and not getting sent back to jail at least for this long," Peter remarked as he jabbed the down button and rode down the lobby. Both men waved goodnight to the guard and didn't waste any time getting into Peter's rental car. Driving to June's Neal chewed on his bottom lip as he waited.

When they arrived the maid informed Neal before leaving that June would be out for the night and would be returning late. After she was gone Neal practically dragged Peter up the stairs to his apartment. Making sure he had no uninvited guests to catch them Neal closed and locked his door as he made his way towards his bed. Before he could make it Peter grabbed Neal by the arm and shoved him up against his bookcase shaking it with enough force to knock a few books off the very top. "Three weeks without me must make you very upset if you're going to be so rough…maybe I should transfer to DC?" Neal remarked as he ignored the feeling of the wooden bookcase digging into his back. "No… I prefer to leave you here, because you won't get to live in a place like this, you'll be stuck in a rundown hotel room or a cramped apartment with no space," Peter said keeping Neal pinned.

Neal smirked "Fine then, sex now then we'll talk later…" Neal said as he locked lips with the agent and dragged him over to the bed by blind faith that he knew where everything was in his apartment. When they reached the bed Neal broke away for air and fell back against his bed. Peter grabbed Neal's tie and yanked him back into a kiss. "Mmm… Peter wait clothes…"the ex con mumbled as he reached up and started to undo his tie only to have Peter slap his hands away which only encouraged him to try again. Just as Neal was about to speak Peter's phone began to go off. Neal instantly pulled away and let the agent answer and flopped back on his bed and looked at the ceiling. Peter answered and raised his phone to his ear. "Hey Josh…I'm kind of busy right now can we talk later, alright I can talk for a few minutes," Peter said as he walked away and over to the couch and sat down and let his eyes travel around the small sitting area as he saw the books they had knocked down he saw one of the books was open.

Peter noticed something under the book as he listened to his friend ramble on about the problem at work. Getting up from the couch he picked up the book and noticed a small black pouch on the floor and picked it up. Dumping the bag into his hand he closed his hand into a fist. "Josh… I'm going to have to call you back," Peter said as he hung up on his friend and got to his feet. "Neal… what's this?" Peter asked holding the stolen necklace up for Neal to see. Sitting up Neal felt his face fall, "Peter… I… can explain…" Neal said as he started to get off the bed.


	6. Chapter 6

**(( Review please... pretty please...)) disclaimer I don't own please enjoy  
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**Chapter 6: Depart**

Peter was livid as he watched Neal move from his bed slowly. "Explain what exactly… that you have the Hope Diamond hidden in a hollowed out book for a friend, damn it Neal…I don't know what makes me more angry the fact you stole this or that your about to tell me some lie to hide the fact that I caught you red handed with a necklace that could put you back in jail for another ten years!" Peter yelled as he watched Neal stop moving closer and lover his eyes. "I… I didn't…" Neal stuttered as he tried to gather his courage and charm he had lost. "Didn't what Neal… tell me some cock and bull story about trusting me when you were under the influence of those drugs so I would think you could changed but I see your true colors Neal…once a con always a con right…" Peter remarked as he grabbed the pouch off the coffee table and slipped the necklace back into it and pulled the drawstrings shut and put the necklace into his pocket.

Walking toward the door Peter ignored the pained look on Neal's face. "If you take that necklace I'll go back to prison… I can't go back Peter, you know that I have and made too many enemies," Neal said as he walked after the agent and put his hand on his forearm. Letting his anger get the best of him Peter spun around and struck Neal across the face with an open hand with some force behind it. "Don't touch me…and maybe prison where you belong…you don't seem to learn anything from being on release, I'm tired of risking my career for someone like you," he said ignoring the younger man touching his own cheek in shock. Neal bit back the tears that glossed over his eyes. Peter left before Neal could speak in his defense he couldn't stand to listen to anymore lies. Moving on auto pilot Neal went into his closet and changed it his favorite silk pajama bottoms and left his shirt off and went through his nightly routine before crawling into bed. As soon as the lamp on his nightstand was off he grabbed the pillow next to him and buried his face in it and began to let a few burning tears escape, the moment they were released every tear he was holding back began to fight for freedom and won. Neal cried himself to sleep for the first time since Kate's death.

* * *

><p>Driving through the city with his rental Peter headed home and parked in front of his house and went inside to find Elizabeth watching an old black and white movie. "Peter… you scared me half to death I wasn't expecting you home until tomorrow morning…when did you get in?" She asked jumping up and hugging her husband. "Not long ago I drove right over from the airport to see you," he said with a smile. "I'm so glad, you should call Neal he's really missed you too, maybe we should have dinner together tomorrow night just the three of us," Elizabeth said as he pulled away. "No… I mean not this weekend I just want to spend some time alone with you this weekend and no one else," Peter said as he finally let go of his wife and let her look at him.<p>

"Alright then, I'm glad you're home I've missed you… it's been tough without you being home every night, but it has been easier to cook for one," she said as she dragged Peter to the couch and made him sit down. "I've got a bunch of old movies to watch for work, I've got a bride who wants to do a black and white wedding so I borrowed a few movies from the library with some old weddings from the era my bride wants so we can talk about it on Monday, so since you're here you can watch with me," Elizabeth said as she climbed onto the couch and put her arms around Peter. After a couple of movies Peter yawned and slipped out of his wife's arms and made his way into the kitchen and grabbed a beer. Reaching into his pocket he felt the necklace. _What am I going to do with this thing; if I give it back questions will be asked…if I don't give it back it's only going to be a matter of time before someone notices the fake, _Peter thought as he opened the beer and started to drink.

Feigning being tired Peter walked out of the kitchen and yawned. "I'm going to turn in early," he said as he made his way upstairs. Ducking into the guest room he closed the door behind him and made his way over to the small bookcase in the corner. Peter gave a soft sigh as he pulled a few books down revealing a small safe he had installed. Dialing in the combination into the small digital lock he opened the door and gave a soft sigh as he removed the stolen necklace from his pocket and put it on the top shelf. _ I'm not even sure why I'm doing this…_ Peter thought as he closed and locked the safe. Leaving the guest room Peter walked into the master bedroom and sighed as he dropped onto his bed. _As soon as I can I'm going to return that necklace and hopefully I can do it without any trouble for myself,_ Peter thought as he got more comfortable.

Elizabeth finished her last movie. Stretching her arms over her head she yawned as Satchmo sat up and let out a big yawn as well. "Come on Satch let's get upstairs before your father takes all the blankets again," Elizabeth said with a smile before she made sure the front and back doors were locked. Walking up to the master bedroom Elizabeth found her husband and dog sharing the bed leaving almost no room for her. Getting ready for bed she shooed Satchmo to the end of the bed and climbed in beside her husband. "Goodnight Hon," she said softly as she shut her light off and closed her eyes.

The weekend passed by in a blur, by late Sunday afternoon Peter had his bag packed in the car. "I'll call you when I get back to DC, I'll talk to you tonight hon," Peter said as he kissed Elizabeth before getting into his rental car and driving off to the airport to fly back to the nation's capital. Elizabeth waited until the car was out of sight before she went inside and went straight to her computer to write up her notes for her meeting the next day. _Peter was acting strange all weekend and he avoided talking about Neal like the plague. I'll call Neal tomorrow during lunch to see what's wrong…_ Elizabeth thought as she continued to type up her notes. When she was done she ate a left over sandwich and poured herself some wine and put a DVD in and turned the movie on as Satchmo hoped up on the couch and settled in beside her.

* * *

><p>Diana growled as she slammed her phone down it was after twelve and Neal hadn't shown up for work or called in sick. After calling his cell she only got his voicemail. Grabbing her keys she left the office and drove to June's mansion, when she got there she found June on the front steps talking with a younger woman and Elizabeth. "Oh you must be here about Neal… he hasn't left his room all weekend and I can't get him to open the doors. I'm worried," June said as she led the three other women inside. When the four of them got to Neal's door Diana moved to the front and knocked on the door. "Caffrey get you butt out of bed right now before I drag it out," Diana said hoping to get a reaction out of Neal. After a minute Diana stepped back and let June and Alex try and get the door unlocked.<p>

Elizabeth watched and waited for her turn when she walked up to the door she knocked carefully first "Neal… it's me… could you please open the door. If you're worried about Peter finding out about you not going into work I promise I won't tell him," she said calmly. "Come…in…" Neal said loud enough to be heard from under the blankets and through the door. June pulled out a spare key and unlocked the apartment door. Moving into the apartment Elizabeth broke away from the others and walked toward the bed and sat on the edge and lifted the covers away from Neal's head slightly.

"Hey… now why don't you come out and tell me what's wrong that way we can help you," she said with a smile. Neal peeked out and looked at the other women in the room and yanked the covers back over his head. "Could you give us a minute alone, I think we're overwhelming him," Elizabeth said before they left. As the apartment door clicked shut Neal looked out and up at Elizabeth. "Neal… what's wrong? June says you haven't left your bed all weekend," she said calmly. "I haven't been feeling too well and I lost track of time is all," he lied as he kept the covers around him. "What if I call Peter would that make you feel better if you could talk to him for a few minutes?" She asked worried that maybe Neal was just lonely. The ex con shook his head, "I don't think you should bother him…he's busy…" Neal said as he started to retreat back under the covers. "It will be no bother to him at all… he's probably on lunch right now," Elizabeth said as she pulled her cell phone out of her bag "I said No! " Neal yelled as he slapped Elizabeth's phone out of her hand and sending it clattering to the floor. Before she could react Neal was back under the covers his back to her. "Just go away and leave me alone!" he yelled from under the heavy comforter.

Sighing Elizabeth got up and grabbed her phone. "We're going now, but we'll be back if you don't leave your room soon," She said as she left the apartment. "I don't know what's wrong, hopefully he gets better soon, I hate to leave you like this but I have a bride to get to and she's not one who likes to wait," Elizabeth said as she bid goodbye to the other women and left to make her meeting on time. Diana sighed she was on the verge of pulling her hair out. "Okay, I've had enough just make sure he's out of bed tomorrow no more coddling," she said as she left in a huff leaving Alex and June to deal with Neal.

Alex looked at her watch "I've got a thing across town that I need to get too…but call me if you get him out of bed," she said as she ran off. June walked into the apartment and walked toward the bed. "Neal …can we talk?" she asked as she stood by the couch. Neal sighed and stayed buried in the safety of his comforter. "Come on now Neal… just because you and Peter had a fight the other night doesn't mean you should hold up in here and hide from the world… Byron and I used to have some little love spats all the time but I never hid from it, now get out of that bed and get dressed we're going out for lunch my treat," June said as she watched Neal shuffled around and slowly climbed out of bed. Dragging himself to his closet Neal dressed in casual pants and a comfortable shirt.

Leaving the mansion Neal sighed and stuck his hands in his coat pockets. "How long have you known?" he asked as he kicked a couple small stones as he walked with his landlady to a small restaurant they both enjoyed going to. "A while…do you remember that case you two were on where you ended up being shot at?" June asked dredging memories up for Neal. "Yeah… if I wasn't holding that book I would have taken a bullet to the heart and died right there," Neal said as he remembered how everyone had reacted and how Peter had hovered for a few days. "I spoke to him and he was worried about you, he thought someone would try to take another shot at you. It was then that I realized that he cares about you more than you know and anything he might have said in anger can be forgiven," she said as she pulled her cell phone out and dialed a number.

"Peter its June… I'm fine… I'm having lunch with Neal today and I know you two had a fight last Friday but I don't think you let Neal explain his side of the story. Now the both of you are going to apologize to one another, I will not have Neal sulking in bed again," she said as she handed Neal the phone. Raising the phone to his ear Neal cleared his throat. "Um… hey…" he said waiting for an apology. Peter sat in his temporary office silently for a moment. "Look I've had some time to think it over and I'm… sorry, I didn't give you a chance to explain, my mind jumped to the worst possible thought, and I'm also sorry for slapping you that was uncalled for," Peter said as he bit his lips a bit. "You had every right to jump to conclusions, I should have told you the second I got it in the mail…but I wanted to talk in person but it got away from me, so… I'm sorry too…" Neal said softly.

Making sure he was alone Peter turned away from the door "Just so you know it's safe and it will stay where it is for now…I didn't mean it when I said you belong in jail, I was just mad… I didn't mean it; you just make me worry a lot Neal…I have to go but I'll call you tonight I promise," Peter said before hanging up. Neal hung up and handed the pone back to his landlady. "Thanks June," he said as he handed her phone back. "Well I'm glad all of that is settled…I'll be right back," she said as she put her phone back in her purse and got up from the table and went to the restroom.

Sitting alone at the table Neal grabbed a menu and opened it. After a moment Neal felt a hand on his shoulder. "It's been a while Neal…did you like the gift I sent you?" Neal looked up and stiffened. "Vincent… it's been a while… why don't you have a seat…" Neal said in a strained voice. Sitting at the table Vincent sat back and looked at his former protégé. "I thought I would come back to New York and visit… and who do I see out of jail and walking around living the good life none other than Neal Caffrey," Vincent said with a chuckle as the waitress came over. "Hello darling, we'll have two glasses of your finest wine and please take your time," he said as she walked away. "What are you doing here Vincent?" Neal asked trying to figure out his mentor's reason for being there.

"I told you I came to visit the city… and to see how you were, and I must say you're anklet does bring out the color in your eyes," Vincent said with a smirk. "This is all well and good but I work for the FBI now and you know that I will report you being here as soon as you leave," Neal said keeping a straight face as to not alert anyone around them. "Now Neal… that's not very nice and something bad will happen to someone you care about for threatening me like that… " Vincent said as he got up from his took the wine he was offered and drank it in one long gulp before he put the glass down and stood up. "I'll be seeing you later Neal but if you need to talk to me before then…" Vincent said as he pulled a business card out and handed it to the other man he gave a small nod as he left the restaurant and disappeared around the corner of the window his phone at his ear. "Do it…" he ordered as he got into a town car.

* * *

><p>Elizabeth sighed her meeting had been a disaster the bride wanted more and it was going to take a lot of time to get everything perfect. <em>She's paying good money and she knows what she wants which really helps and luckily she's not getting married for six months…<em> Elizabeth thought as she walked down the street with the other planners that worked for her, they had taken an early lunch together to talk about the job. As they turned the corner a late model sedan came down the street and took a hard left and plowed through the store front of Burke Premiere Events. When the shock wore off Elizabeth pulled out her phone and called Peter and filled him in on the incident.

"I'm just glad that no one was in there at the time…and I'm glad you're safe hon, I'll feel even better when that driver is arrested," Peter said silently wishing he was home to comfort his wife. "I'm fine Peter and the police arrested him a few minutes ago, I just hope we'll still be able to work out of a rented space until this place is fixed," Elizabeth said as she watched the firemen and police keep everyone back as the car was slowly removed from the shop widow. "Oh when you get some free time please call Neal and talk to him I think he's lonely with you, he was in his bed all weekend," she said unaware of the earlier call.

Peter smiled "All taken care of; June made him call and I got him out of bed with a promise of some time together next time I'm back home and that's all he needed to hear it seems, you know what… I have to go but I want you to call once you find a place to work temporarily," Peter said as he looked at the photo of him and his wife on his desk. "Alright, I'm going to call Neal later and invite him over for dinner this weekend so hopefully you'll be home this weekend, I need to find a rental place, talk to you later hon," Elizabeth said as she hung up and walked over to the police offer in charge and asked him for a report number so she could file an insurance claim.

_That man intentionally hit my store… I wonder if Peter arrested someone who is getting revenge… I should call Diana; she said I could call her with any problem, I should also warn Neal so he can keep an eye out for something like this._ Elizabeth thought as she sent a quick text to Neal before she pulled her planners aside and told them to go home for the rest of the day so they could get some work done. Getting into her car Elizabeth drove home and went inside and locked her front door before she pulled out the paperwork for the insurance company.

Neal looked at his phone the second he got the text message from Elizabeth. _At least no one was hurt… but that only means he wasn't trying to…but if I turn him down it could be worse. _He thought as he looked at the card with the phone number. When June returned to the table Neal was lost in his own thoughts. He jumped when she touched his arm. "Sorry I was lost in my thoughts," he apologized as they ordered lunch and ate.

* * *

><p>When lunch was over Neal walked June home then excused himself saying he had to go to the market and get some food for dinner. As soon as he was alone Neal pulled his cell out and dialed the number from the card. "Neal…I was expecting this call… I take it you heard about that accident, it's a shame no one was hurt… then again you know now that I mean business this time. Maybe we should meet in person again in a little while…at the Empire state building on the observation deck in an hour, bring a bag of clothes and whatever you want to run away with, I'll see you then," he said before hanging up.<p>

Neal hung up his end of the line and walked inside and up the stairs to his apartment and grabbed a notebook he kept in the top drawer and wrote a short note to Peter and left it out on the table to be found. Leaving his notebook on the table Neal walked over to where he kept his sketch books and grabbed a blank one and some pens and pencils and put them on the table along with a few books as he went into his closet and grabbed a bag and packed a few things and put the bag aside.

Looking around the apartment Neal walked out and leaned against the railing as he looked at the million dollar view and sighed. "I'm going to miss this… and everyone," Neal mumbled to himself as he went back into his apartment and grabbed his messenger bag and put it on and left. Avoiding his landlady he caught a cab outside and traveled to the famous building when he got there his anklet was going off, pulling out a small pocket knife he cut it off and jammed it in the small space behind the seat cushion and paid the cab driver. "Here is an extra hundred if you leave that in the seat for next ten minutes," he said slipping the driver the hundred dollar bill and disappearing into the crowd. Making his way through the lobby Neal managed to squeeze himself into the remaining space and rode it to the top.

Moving with the crowd Neal moved to the chain link surrounding the edge and sighed as he looked at the view. "You're early… I like that…" Vincent said as he moved closer and forced Neal into a corner. "I had to cut my anklet…it's only a matter of time before the FBI show up we should be going," Neal reminded as he ignored the fact that everything he planned required the FBI to catch his cut tracker. Adler nodded and moved away giving Neal his space as they walked back to the elevator and rode it back to the lobby and stepped out. Keeping close to his protégé Adler walked him out the front doors where a black town car was waiting for them where it was supposed to be.

Neal got into the back seat as Adler did and shut the door behind them and instructed the driver to go. As the car pulled away Neal held onto his bag and watched as they disappeared into the traffic. _I had it planned perfectly what took them so long…if I try to leave he could try again to hurt Elizabeth and I can't let that happen no matter what._ Neal thought as he lost himself in his thoughts. Adler looked over and pulled a folder out of the pocket of his jacket. Neal took the envelope and opened it and found a new driver's license and a passport waiting for him. "Devlin… Markus" Neal smirked as he pocketed the two forged documents.

* * *

><p>Josh was practically skipping down the hall with joy when he arrived at Peter's office. "Hey did you hear?" he asked trying to seem solemn. "No I've been busy with this case and haven't been able to waste my time on gossip like you do, so what's the big news?" Peter asked looking up from his paperwork. "So you haven't heard… Caffrey killed himself…" Josh said. Peter felt his heart plummet before he noticed Josh break into a grin "Naw I'm just yanking your chain… he cut his anklet and ran away, you should be getting a call soon from you're old office," Josh said as Peter got up and roughly jabbed Josh in the ribs with his elbow as he walked by him. Pulling out his cell phone Peter called Diana. "Hey boss, I take it you heard… he just took off, we're still trying to catch up to the how and why," Diana said as she tried to control the agents running around. Peter sighed and grabbed his coat. "I'll be there as soon as possible; I'm going to pull a few strings and try to catch a ride to New York somehow, I'll keep you informed… for now follow procedure, call in the police and start he search as soon as possible, look in museums and other places Neal likes to frequent just in case," Peter said as he hung up his phone and grabbed his jacket.<p>

_Neal… why did you run…there was no reason…_ Peter thought as he walked down the hall and entered his temporary boss's office. Explaining everything he knew he was given permission to leave. Calling ahead Peter managed to secure a seat on the next flight back to the city. When he got to the airport he flashed his badge and skipped security checkpoints as he walked onto the plane and took seat waiting for him. Tapping his foot on the floor he waited as the plane moved into position and got ready for takeoff. _I have to get back into your head Neal to find out why you wanted to run again…unless you're leaving under duress…is it not your choice to go in the first place?_ Peter thought as he tried to get in his partner's head again. Once the plane took off Peter went through everything in his head to try and figure out what went wrong.

* * *

><p>Neal followed beside Adler as he walked quickly through the airport toward their gate. "The FBI hasn't shown up yet, let's hope these passports work," Alder said as he dragged Neal to the gate and handed their tickets and passports over. The young woman behind the counter smiled at them "Please enjoy your trip you may board now," she said as she ushered them through the doorway towards the plane. Neal hitched his bag up and walked onto the plane and took a seat in first class by the window and got comfortable.<p>

As the announcements came on Neal pulled out one of the few sketchbooks he brought with him and a pen and opened to a fresh page and began to doodle small birds flying on an empty page. When the birds were done Neal began to work on the buildings. "That's really good where that is?" Adler asked as he made sure his seat belt was buckled. "It's the view from my…former apartment…" Neal said as he put the pen down and looked at the unfinished drawing and sighed as he put his book away and put his belt on to get ready for takeoff. After moving into position the plane's engines fired up and they moved down the runway and took off into the air. Once they were free to move about the plane Neal unbuckled himself and turned away from Adler and took the pillow offered to him and tried to sleep.

"It's a seven hour flight Neal… you can't ignore me that whole time," the older man said as Neal kept his mouth shut and his eyes closed. _ I hope Peter can forgive me for doing this…_ Neal thought as he put his arms around himself and ignored the older man.

* * *

><p>After an hour Peter disembarked from his plane and met up with his team in a small airport office. "Diana… I want you to get all the tapes from security, Jones pull security footage from the train station and subways and start to look for Neal I'll meet you two at the office I have to go somewhere," he said as he left his agents to search. "We'll find him," Diana called after Peter as he left the airport and got into a cab. Giving June's address Peter wanted to tell the driver to go faster but he didn't want to get pulled over so he waited patiently. When he arrived he ran up the front stairs and was let in before his first knock even landed. "Diana called… you can go up, I hope you can find out why he left," June said as Peter moved up the stairs and went into Neal's apartment.<p>

Right away Peter could feel the emptiness and abandonment in the room. Looking around Peter found the note and picked it up from under the candlestick before reading it aloud. "Peter, please forgive me for leaving and don't look down. I didn't mean for this to hurt you. Me? I'm going to go around the world it's not time for me to settle and be safe. I love traveling and being on the move always… Neal," he read as he let the note drop back onto the table. _If anyone else sees this it's going to look worse than it does already…_ Peter thought as he grabbed the note and folded it up and put it in his pocket before leaving the apartment and shutting the door behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

**(I do not own any chars, i do not make money, but pretty please review the story to keep it going... also reviews keep your favorite chars safe and happy) ~ Loves and hugs Bun Bun Babe  
>Chapter 7: Confront<strong>

Opening his eyes Neal sighed as the boat under him rocked gently on the ocean waves. Making his way back below deck Neal made his way to his private cabin and closed the door behind him. Moving to his bed Neal lifted up the corner of the mattress and pulled his homemade calendar out and checked another day off and put the calendar back before leaving. _ Three months…I've been with him for three months... I guess Peter got my message since no one has come looking for us… _Neal thought as he left his room and found himself walking down the hall to the sitting area where he found Adler sitting and reading the local newspaper. Putting the paper down Adler smirked as he got up from his seat. "There you are Neal…I just got back from shore, I got you some more sketch pads and pens and some new clothes for tonight," Adler remarked as he grabbed the garment bag and handed it to Neal.

"I'm not going… I told you already I came with you to protect Elizabeth and Peter and that I wouldn't help you in any way; that life is behind me I've changed my ways," Neal said putting his foot down on the matter. Putting the garment bag down on the table Adler walked over and threw his hand out and shoved Neal against the cabinets hard. "I paid good money to pay off those guards to let us into the party tonight; I need you there now get dressed now…" Adler said in a darker tone as he pushed Neal down the hall roughly forcing him to trip and hit the ground. Pushing himself up Neal got to his feet and wiped away the blood on his lip. "Well now it's official, you can do the job yourself and get caught yourself," Neal said walking away and going up on deck to be alone. Following after the younger man Adler grabbed the younger con by his hair and pulled his head back and shoved him forward forcing Neal to strike his head on the boom with such force he was knocked unconscious.

Dropping Neal on the ground Vincent crouched down and rolled Neal over and slapped him on the face lightly to wake him up. "Damn it… well forget the party now," he said grabbing a towel off the deck and wrapping it up he put it under Neal's head and sat on the steps as he waited for Neal to wake up. After a few minutes Neal slowly regained consciousness and opened his eyes. "My head is killing me…Mr. Adler what the hell happened?" he asked as he slowly sat up and put his hand on his head.

"What's the last thing you remember?" the older man asked curious to know how much Neal remembered. "I'm not sure, I mean I know your name and I know my name… I know my other friend's names. I'm not a fan of deviled ham and I know I love wine and good art," Neal said as he was helped to his feet and helped down to his cabin and into bed. "First of all call me Vincent and second it's good you remember that, now tell me does the name Peter Burke mean anything to you?" Adler asked only for his own knowledge. Neal shook his head only to stop when he felt like his head was splitting open. "Rest…you took a nasty spill and hit your head and I'm going to have one of the staff radio to shore that we need a doctor and he'll meet us at the dock," Adler said as he left Neal alone. Neal looked around the medium sized room and found a sketch pad on the nightstand. Grabbing the pad Neal began to flip through it and look at the various drawings only to stop at a drawing of a man sitting on a porch drinking a beer and looking off into the unknown distance. Feeling a tug at his heart Neal put the book back and leaned back against the pillows and closed his eyes to keep the oncoming headache from getting worse.

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><p>Elizabeth yawned as she walked downstairs and found her husband on the couch passed out again due to nearly working himself to death doing his day job along with working Neal's case by himself; on the top of the lukewarm case file was an airport security photo and the message Neal had left behind. Picking the note up Elizabeth read it silently before she picked up the copy of the photo Peter had. Sighing softly she put the photo back down on top of the note. Reaching over she put her hand on Peter's shoulder and shook him awake. "Peter it's two in the morning come to bed," Elizabeth said softly very worried about the level of obsession her husband was showing. Peter opened his eyes and looked at his watch and blinked a few times to focus his eyes. "I meant to close my eyes for a few minutes," he mumbled as he got up and stumbled toward the kitchen to make more coffee. "Peter… you're killing yourself looking for Neal and you haven't gotten any closer than you were three months ago, face it Peter this might just be a case you can't solve," she said as she put her arms around Peter and held him.<p>

"Neal would have never left under his own free will, if you look at that photo Neal's arm is being forced through the people, and it just so happens to coincide with that car going through your front window, he didn't go freely I have a theory that Neal went to protect us from any more harm… I can't leave him to suffer; no one else will even talk to me at work about this except for Diana and Jones they help when they can. But I'm on my own now," Peter said as he pulled away and saw that the coffee pot was empty. "Please just come to bed, it's late and you have work in the morning now let's go to bed," Elizabeth said as she grabbed Peter's arm and tugged him toward the stairs. "In a few minutes, I'm just going to take one more look at some papers then I'll be up I promise," he said rubbing his eyes. "No Peter you're tired and Neal wouldn't want you to push yourself like this," Elizabeth said as she put her foot down and dragged her husband upstairs and helped him into bed.

Peter was asleep the instant he hit the pillow; it was a restless sleep as he dreamed of Neal. When he rejoined the waking world Peter noticed that he had a feeling of being watched. Opening his eyes he saw Neal's older friend standing there holding the note Neal had left behind. "What the hell are you doing in my bedroom?" Peter asked as he tried to adjust his eyes and read the clock. "Oh Elizabeth let me in before she went to work she said you've been obsessing still about Neal and she asked me to come help you. She also called into work for you so you could rest, but I got to look at your files and this note from Neal has a message in it," Mozzie said as he slowly folded the letter in front of Peter before handing it over for him to read. "Peter please don't follow me it's not safe love always Neal," Peter read. Looking at the shorter man he jumped out of bed and hugged the shorter man before almost running back downstairs to where his files were still spread around.

Following the FBI agent downstairs Mozzie looked frazzled. "Warn me next time you're going to hug me suit," he said straightening his clothes. "I haven't seen obsession this bad since Neal was looking for Kate, it was sad how determined he was to find her, and now I have to watch you go through it," he said taking a seat on a lounge chair. Looking at the files spread around Mozzie grabbed a photo and looked at it. "How well do you know Vincent Adler?" he asked looked at the FBI agent. "Not much more than one his file has on him, he embezzled a hundred fifty million and that's about it," Peter said unsure of where the conversation was going. "So you don't know then that Neal and I tried to steal from him once and that Neal worked for him as his right hand man, in fact Adler is the one who turned Neal into the man you know today," Mozzie said "Neal is his perfect treasure almost, like any piece of artwork he put a lot of time into training him," Mozzie added as he handed the picture back over.

"I don't like the sound of where this is going, so Neal worked for him and he thinks of Neal as his protégé… how bad is that? That means Neal isn't in danger right?" Peter asked feeling his stomach tighten in knots. Mozzie looked away for a moment and pushed his glasses up. "What I'm about to tell you is something that you can never repeat to Neal, he doesn't even know that I know. One night he came to my loft drunk and I mean black out with no memory of it; he was wreck. He looked like he had been through a ringer. Then he tells me that at a charity function where they were scouting the art to steal, Adler had gotten him drunk then took advantage of him in more ways than one and after he used Neal like a cheap working girl he asked him a series of questions about his relationship with Kate before letting him go…a week later Adler took off with the money and you know the rest of the story… he leaves, Kate dies in the accident and Adler didn't return to New York until three months ago when Neal left."

Mozzie sighed. "Well if I were Adler I would go somewhere that Neal wouldn't know as well, Neal speaks fluent Japanese and French and a little Russian, so those countries are out of the question. If it was me, I would go to Spain or a Spanish island is even better since Neal's Spanish is pretty weak," Mozzie said as Peter jumped from the couch. "Lock up behind you and don't steal anything," he called as he ran out of the house with his keys and wallet and jumped into his car and drove in the direction of the FBI office. When he got to the office his team was surprised to see him. "Diana call Interpol in Spain tell them to look at airport footage in Madrid from three months ago and boat rental places all over the country, send them Neal's picture, it can't be too hard to spot someone like Neal in a country that size," Peter said determined to find his lover.

Diana grabbed her phone and began to make the call. When she got an agent she faxed him a photo of Neal and started the process of looking for him and the man he escaped with. Peter paced the office and waited for the approval of the DC office to let him go to Spain. As he paced the office his phone rang again. Peter grabbed the phone and listened to the decision. "Alright then I understand we don't have the funds to pay for an international flight, yes sir… thank you sir," Peter said defeated as he put the phone down and sighed. Feeling lost he sat at his desk as Diana walked in. "They wouldn't clear it they said there isn't enough evidence to go to Spain and look for him, tell Interpol to take Neal into protective custody on sight and hold him long enough to get information to us," Peter ordered as got up and made his way into the conference room and started to bark orders.

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><p>Adler sighed; his chance to get his hands on some great works of art had gone out the window with Neal's memories. Walking below deck Adler knocked on Neal's door before opening it and finding Neal sitting on his bed looking at his sketch pad again at the drawing of the man that made his chest tighten. "How's your head feeling?" Adler asked as he walked closer to the bed and saw Neal lost in his own world. "Hmm… oh, it still hurts but none of my memories are coming back yet," Neal said with a sigh as he closed his drawing pad and put it aside and looked up at the other man. "I want to go home…I can't remember anything here maybe if I was back in New York I could remember things faster," Neal said as he started to get off his bed.<p>

"We have to stay here Neal, you know that the FBI has begun to investigate me, and we had to leave so suddenly that if we go back we'll be grabbed the second we land," Vincent said as he sat on the end of the bed. "Besides you have nothing to go back to there, Kate took off and left us behind why else would I just take you with me. You need to rest now, remember the doctor said not to overtax yourself or you could take longer to heal. I have to go ashore to do some things, you are going to stay here and rest," Adler said as he got up and started to leave the room. Neal looked up from his drawing. "Who's Peter Burke?" Neal asked remembering the name Vincent had asked him about earlier. "He's no one… just order something and forget about him," Vincent said cutting the line of questioning short. "But you asked me about him earlier so he must be important now tell me," Neal demanded feeling lost that he still couldn't remember anything.

Vincent grabbed the sketch pad and flung it over his shoulder. "I told you to forget about him and if you don't want to get hit I think you should forget about him because you're never going to see him again," he said as he stood there. Neal stood up and moved closer to the older man. "I want to know what you're keeping from me. Who is the man in that drawing and why does he make my heart tighten," Neal remarked. Angered by Neal's demanding outburst Vincent slapped the younger man across his face.

Neal's hand flew to his cheek as he had a flash of memory shocked his mind. Flashes of an apartment and a necklace filled Neal's mind as he started to remember. _He… did that too…I knew him but who is he…_ Neal thought as he sat back down on the bed. "My head hurts…" he said softly to no one as he turned away and faced his back to Adler as he pulled his legs up and hugged them. Leaving the cabin Vincent went up on deck and poured a glass of wine and looked at the people walking around the beach on shore. Sighing he walked to the bow and took a seat on the plush bench and relaxed in the warm sunlight.

As the Spanish sun moved lazily through the sky Neal grabbed his sketchpad off the floor and picked up the only bag he found in the closet and packed a few things that looked important before he crept down the hall to the back of the ship. Looking around Neal found they weren't far from shore. Taking the emergency raft out of the box and pulling the rip cord Neal held the rope as he tossed it into the water and got in before he began to use the small wooden oar to cut though the waves. After a long and grueling trip Neal found himself at the docks. Clambering out of the raft Neal looked around the area and made his way toward the center of town.

When he got to a small market place Neal walked into a flower shop and looked at the older woman behind the counter. Searching his memory for the right words he needed "Policía?" he asked looking like a lost puppy. The woman took pity on him and wrapped her arm around Neal's arm and led him out of the shop and down the cobblestone street to a brick building. "Muchas gracias," Neal said softly as he walked into the police station and when he found an officer that spoke English Neal felt safer.

"Please call the closest Interpol office and give them my name," Neal said as he wrote down his full name and gave it to the officer as he was left in a room while the officer made the call. Pulling his sketch book out Neal grabbed a pen off the table and began to sketch out a drawing of an apartment with a view that surely cost a million dollars. When he was about half way done with the drawing the officer returned. "The agent I spoke to said that he would be here in an hour, it seems the FBI has asked them to hold you in protective custody until they can confirm who you are and send an agent to bring you home, while you wait would you like something to eat or drink ?" he asked. Neal shook his head and let the officer go back to work.

Peter resumed his pacing in his office again trying to come up with a way to get to Spain without proof when his phone rang. "This better be good," Peter remarked annoyed at the fact that he was stuck in the city until Neal was found. "Agent Burke, this is agent Margret Storrs from Interpol… I received a call ten minutes ago from a police captain in Alcudia Spain he said a young man walked into his station claiming to be your missing conman, he's being held in the station until I can pick him up and bring him to Madrid. Now he does not have a passport so he can't return home until we have his passport to prove he's a U.S. citizen or a birth certificate. We'll need you to bring them with you when you come to get him," the agent said as she got the paperwork started. "I'll get them as soon as possible and fly there right away," Peter said before hanging up. After making a few calls Peter located Mozzie and found out he had the paperwork he needed to bring Neal home.

Calling the D.C. office and getting clearance to fly to Spain as soon as he could catch a flight. Calling for air times Peter managed to find a seat on a plan bound for Madrid even though it didn't leave for two hours. Grabbing his phone he called home "Hey hon, I found Neal… well not me but I'm flying out in two hours hopefully we'll be able to get him through customs and home soon, I'll call you later when I land," Peter said as he left the office.

Elizabeth smiled "Just take your time and get Neal home safely I'll be here to welcome you both with big hugs, I'll let you go now and be careful honey and remember to pick up your passport from the safety deposit box," Elizabeth said before Peter hung up. Giving a small smile she put her phone down on the table. As she started to turn her laptop on the doorbell rang. Getting up from the table she walked to the door and opened it. "Josh… what a pleasant surprise... it's been too long since I saw you," Elizabeth said as she let her husband's college friend into their house. "Hey Elizabeth, I know this is sudden but I wanted to surprise you and Peter, I know how upset he's been with Neal running away," Josh said feigning care in Neal being missing.

"Well Peter isn't here right now in fact he's about to fly to Spain and bring Neal home, they should be home tomorrow night at the latest you're welcome to stay here so you don't have to waste your money on a hotel room," she offered with a smile as she led Josh to the couch. Josh gave a fake smile. "Well thank you Elizabeth, I would love to stay here and I just love your cooking," Josh said as he stood near the bookcase and looked around the room at the changes the Burke's had made. On the shelf he noticed a few new pictures of Neal and Peter that Elizabeth had taken. "That is one of my favorites, Neal and Peter had been working for two days straight on a case and when I got home they were just passed out on the couch like that and I couldn't resist taking a picture of them," Elizabeth said with a smile.

Josh nodded and resisted the overwhelming urge to smash the photo of the Christmas photo of Neal and Peter close to him where they were sitting close and smiling. "I came to visit for another reason also. I thought I should be the one to tell you that Peter isn't being totally faithful to you…I think he's got some feelings toward Neal," Josh said holding back a smile as he waited for Elizabeth to react. "Oh I know that, it's kind of hard to miss it especially when no matter how annoyed Peter got at the birthday cards and champagne Neal sent Peter never threw anything away, which was the first clue the second was the way Peter gets so protective of Neal when he's undercover. It's just some harmless puppy love," she said remembering how Peter got around Neal when he tried to hide his feelings.

"And you're alright with Peter having these feelings for someone else… a guy for that matter?" Josh asked as he felt his ego deflate a bit. "Of course they're just feelings," she said with a caring smile. Josh gave an inner smirk that could rival the Grinch's. "So then you don't know about D.C.?" he asked as he reigned in his glee in so as not to sound too happy that he was getting Neal in trouble. Shaking her head Elizabeth readied herself for bad news. "I know Neal got sick and you and him got into a small argument about something, is there more to it than that?" she asked. "I hate to be the one to tell you this but Peter strayed and while in D.C. he and Neal slept together, the evidence was pretty clear, the hickeys on Neal's neck were kind of a dead giveaway and the look on Neal's face like he got what he wanted told me he's just using Peter and he's going to toss him aside when the time is right," Josh said as he lied about Neal's involvement.

Sitting in silence Elizabeth sat there lost in her thoughts. "Uh Josh… I know I invited you to stay and… I excuse me I need to be alone but please help yourself to the kitchen," Elizabeth said as she got up and went upstairs and closed the bedroom door behind her. Josh smirked. _ Phase one done, with Peter tossed out and Caffrey is in trouble I'll swoop in and pick up the pieces and get Peter to return home with me. Now to get Caffrey back in jail for life _Josh thought as he wondered into the kitchen and made a sandwich. Pulling out his cell phone he dialed a number in D.C. "Hello Director Wright… this is Agent Worth, I just thought I should let you know that I've recently witnessed something that I would like to keep my name out of but I thought you would like to know. Special Agent Peter Burke has been having a secret relationship with his CI Neal Caffrey starting January the fourth thru as recent as three months ago before Caffrey ran away," Josh said moving onto the next step of his plan. "Hey Elizabeth… I'm going to stay at a hotel tonight but if you need me I'm just a phone call away," Josh called as he left the home and hailed a cab to a hotel in the city.

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><p>Vincent sighed as he finished his third glass of wine. Grabbing a small bell he summoned one of the two cabin boys that worked for him. "Bring Neal up here I want to talk to him," he ordered. The young man shifted his weight from side to side before explaining how Neal had snuck off when they weren't looking. "Take the boat to shore and start to look for him, he couldn't have gotten too far especially with him limited Spanish," Vincent ordered as he went to his cabin and changed his clothes. <em>According to Sean… Neal left an hour ago at the most; if he wants to go home he would go to the police for help. If I remember correctly the police station is in the center of town across from the fountain.<em> Vincent thought as he made his way through the darkening streets.

When he got to the police station he kept to the outside as he thought of a plan to explain anything the police might ask him. _ It might be better if I wait out here for them. I can ambush anyone with Neal and make Neal come back to the boat with me so we can sail away and head for Istanbul or somewhere farther east._ Vincent thought as he took a seat on the bench by a street light and began to wait.

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><p>"Mr. Caffrey… sorry for the wait but traffic from the airport was a nightmare; I'm Agent Storrs from Interpol's office in Madrid, I've been asked by Agent Burke to take you back to Madrid where we're going to clear your paperwork and then he'll be taking you home, do you have any questions?" she asked with a smile. "Yeah… who's Agent Burke? I only ask because I hit my head earlier today and I've been suffering some memory loss," Neal said filling the agent in. Agent Storrs sighed and sat across from Neal. "I don't have a lot of time to sit here and explain things to you so I'll let him do it when he gets to the office. We should go now; we have a car waiting by the back door and when we get to the city you will be staying at the Interpol office under our custody until Agent Burke takes you under custody," she said as she got up and left the small room with Neal and went down the back steps to the waiting car and got in with him.<p>

Driving to the small airport Neal looked at the plane and got on with the agent and traveled back to Madrid. Neal had decided to ask the agent as many questions about him as possible to see if anything jogged any memories with little success. " Now Agent Burke should be here in a little over six hours there is a break room you can use if you get tired but you won't be allowed to leave the building until he arrives," Margret said leading Neal inside to her office where a few agents were finishing up some reports. "I can wait…it will give me time to try and remember him," Neal said with a smile as he found an empty desk by the door and sat down. Right away he started to get flashes of memory of another desk covered in paper flowers and cranes and stacks of folders. After a while Neal grew tired of the office and began to wander around until he came to the break room and found the large couch and a couple blankets waiting for him. Deciding a nap was worth it he kicked off his shoes and put his back on the table before he stretched out and relaxed as he tried to remember something new.

Peter hated international flights; they were long and the time change always made him feel off with the time change. _Neal should be back in Madrid and there is a car waiting for me at the airport I only have a few more hours to go, and as much as I would like to turn around and go home there is no returning flight to New York for two days so we're going to be stuck in Spain for a couple days._ Peter thought as he adjusted himself in his seat to stay comfortable.

When the plane finally landed Peter knew the jet lag would set in but his adrenaline was rushing and keeping it at bay so when he met the agent picking him up he followed him to the car for the drive to the office where Agent Storrs was waiting for him. Looking at his watch Peter yawned as he was led to the break room where Neal picking at a rice and bean dish. "Neal… boy are you a sight for sore eyes," Peter remarked unaware of the memory loss. Neal looked up and saw more flashes of memory of himself and the agent in front of him laughing, disagreeing, talking, sharing drinks, hunched over files, having sex and being held by him. Blushing lightly Neal cleared his throat as a name floated to his tongue. "Peter… its good see you too, sorry I hit my head this morning and my memories are still a bit jumbled," Neal apologized. "Don't worry about it right now Neal, let's just get a hotel. I'm beat and we'll work on your memories in the morning. I'm sure you'll start to remember everything the minute we get back home," Peter remarked as he stifled a yawn.

"Agent Burke I've booked one of the last rooms at the Westin Palace; we have a car to take you there and I will begin on the paperwork for Mr. Caffrey to go home tomorrow," Margret said with a smile as she led Neal and Peter out to the car. When they arrived at the hotel and got their room key Peter dragged Neal upstairs to their room and closed the door behind them. Neal followed behind Peter like a puppy and parked himself on the end of the bed and watched him. "Peter, why am I in Spain?" Neal asked looking lost. "I'm not really sure; I think you might have been blackmailed into going. I was going to ask you that question when I found you but you beat me to it," Peter said as he sat beside Neal and put his arm around him. "I'm just glad you're alright… well except for the memory loss but once we're home you'll be fine," Peter remarked as he pulled away and got up. "I'm going to bed that was a long plane ride. Just do me a favor and please stay in the room. I couldn't get another anklet before I left so for safety just stay in here and order room service," he said as he kissed the top of Neal's head and stripped down to his boxers and got into bed.

Neal felt his cheeks heat up a bit. "I'll let you sleep in here, I can make do with the couch," Neal said as he got up slowly. "Neal… we can share the bed you know we've shared a bed before," he said as he sat up and watched Neal give a weak smile. "I really don't mind taking the couch… I guess I'm just nervous about this with my memories gone-" Peter grabbed Neal and pulled him across the bed and into an awkward kiss. Right away Neal melted as more memories began to flood back of him and Peter. Breaking away he smirked and scooted to the head of the bed. "I missed you…I'm sorry about leaving I just had to do... mmph" Neal was cut off by another kiss. When he was sure Neal was quiet he pulled away. "No need to apologize, I understand," Peter said as he fell back against the pillows. Sitting there for a moment Neal looked at his hands "Peter…if we've slept together then that means I'm cheating on Kate right?" Neal asked suddenly feeling guilt build in his stomach.

"No… I would have never asked you to start this relationship if you were still with her. She died in an accident about ten months ago, you were a wreck for a long time and I waited until I was sure you were over everything before I even mentioned my feelings…I let you mourn… for a long time…" Peter said as he finally drifted off to sleep leaving Neal to his thoughts. After a few minutes Neal kicked his shoes off and stripped out of his clothes and slid into the large comfortable bed and slowly scooted closer to Peter stopping after every inch he moved. "Neal… would you stop moving around it's hard to fall asleep either stay on that side or come here…" Peter mumbled with his eyes still closed as the ex con scooted right into his arms snuggled close as he closed his eyes as well.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the delay people I hope you enjoy this chapter and please read and review if you don't review something bad could happen to a main character and you wouldn't want that to happen  
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**Chapter 8: Wonderstruck  
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After a couple days in Spain the paperwork had cleared allowing Neal to return to the states in FBI custody. Peter flipped through the TV channels looking for something to watch. "Peter what time is our plane?" Neal asked as he walked around the room bored. "It's at ten so our car should be here soon," Peter said as he got up from the couch and turned the television off. Neal followed the FBI agent out of the hotel room and followed him to the front desk as they checked out and met up with Agent Storrs. "Agent Burke…I'm sorry we didn't get to see each other more. I hope enjoyed the country from what you saw of it and if you get a chance please come back on some personal time," she said as she led them to the waiting car and drove them to the airport. "Have a good flight and I hope Mr. Caffrey the next time you visit try to come here legally and enjoy it as well," she said as Peter and Neal got out of the car and made their way into the terminal for international flights.

"Come on Neal we're boarding now," Peter said as he walked onto the plane and sat in their seats in the first class section. Neal smirked that he got the window seat. Peter sighed and leaned back a bit and watched Neal get comfortable. Seven hours later Neal sat up as the plane was getting ready to land his hair mussed up he quickly raked his fingers through his hair. As they disembarked from the plane Peter noticed Diana and Jones standing by the plastic seats waiting for them. "This doesn't look good… what's wrong?" Peter asked as he stopped by the other agents. Diana chewed on her bottom lip for a moment hoping Jones would say something but he bowed out and went to get the car. "It's not good… a panel has been called in, Hughes called me into his office before they arrived, it's about you two; someone's tipped the FBI higher ups off about you two having a more than friendship relationship and apparently there is evidence from the anonymous source," she said as the four of them began to leave the terminal and head for the waiting car.

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><p>Neal followed close to Peter even with his limited memories of the two agents that came to pick them up he knew they cared. Getting into the back seat Peter sighed. "Do you have any idea who this source might be?" Peter asked as tried to stay calm as they headed into the city. "No idea we tried to figure it out but no one is talking," Diana said as they pulled up in front of the office. Going inside and up to the White Collar division the four were silent. When they reached the twenty-first floor Hughes was waiting for them. "Peter…Neal… we're going to be going to be going upstairs, please don't talk or say anything until we get there this is a full formal investigative panel," Hughes informed as he got in the elevator as Jones and Diana stepped out.<p>

Riding up to the twenty-eighth floor the doors chimed as they opened. Upon leaving the elevator into the large open room Neal and Peter were flanked by two serious looking agents who led them to separate chairs next to tables with lie detectors waiting for them. After they were hooked up Neal looked at the group of people sitting at the table. "Before we begin I will introduce everyone for the record of this hearing, I am Director Janet Carr head of OPR's Internal Investigation Team, to my left is Patrick White of the D.C. Office and to my right is Reese Hughes of the New York White Collar office. We're here today on the fifth of March to determine whether or not the allegations brought to our attention warrant any punishment," Agent Carr said as she looked at the two before her.

"We'll begin with names for the record, Agent Burke give your full name and title for the record," she said turning to the agent. "Peter Thomas Burke… Special Agent of the White Collar Crimes Division in New York," Peter replied keeping his breathing steady as he kept his eyes locked on the agents at the table. Nodding Agent Carr looked at Neal. "Neal George Caffrey… Criminal Consultant to the FBI's White Collar Crimes Division New York Office," Neal said his heart rate on the monitor beeped at the increase of his own heart rate. "Agent Burke… you and Mr. Caffrey we're brought before this panel today to get your side of the story… the allegations brought against you today are that you two are involved in a sexual relationship with each other… before we begin the questioning we'll ask that you both answer a base line question to get a startup reading. "Mr. Caffrey, are your eyes blue?" she asked looking at Neal.

"Yes" Neal answered as the lie detector gave a steady beep of his heart rate; once she got an okay that the machine was working she turned on Peter. "Agent Burke, are your eyes blue?" she asked keeping the question the same. "No" he said calmly and once he was cleared Agent Carr sat up straighter. Ready to begin the interrogation she waited a few minutes to ask the first question to build the tension. "Agent Burke, have you ever slept with your CI" she asked? Peter looked at Neal for a moment before looking at the panel "No, I have not…" he answered. Looking at Neal Janet looked him over for a moment. "Mr. Caffrey, have you ever slept with Agent Burke?" she asked keeping an eye on the ex con.

"No ma'am I have not," he replied taking deep breaths to keep calm. After twenty minutes of questioning it was clear that everything that needed to be asked had been. "You two are excused for now but don't go far we will be discussing what happens next," Carr said as Peter and Neal were released from the electrodes for the lie detectors. Peter and Neal got up and left the room and went to the small waiting room and sat across the room from one another. Sitting in silence they waited to be called back into the room.

Soon an agent came and brought them back into the room. "Agent Burke… Mr. Caffrey we've decided after looking over the evidence and the results of your lie detector tests that you were both far from truthful with us so your punishments will be as follow, Agent Burke you are suspended for two weeks without pay, Mr. Caffrey for cutting you anklet you will be serving two months in the super max but when you are released you will be working as a CI again for three extra years along with stricter rules, you and agent Burke will no long have contact outside of work, that means no more visits to his place of residence and no rides to work from him, and he will not be allowed to visit you at your place of residence as well. Agent Burke you dismissed… agents take Mr. Caffrey to the super max," Agent Carr said not even batting an eye.

* * *

><p>Riding down in the elevator Neal glanced over at Peter having not been hand cuffed yet he removed his satchel bag he had with him and handed it over without a word. Peter took hold of the strap and held onto it tightly as they arrived in the lobby. When they got out of the elevator Peter walked toward the exit and saw someone waving at him. Stopping and watching as Neal was led out of the lobby Peter sighed as he looked down at the bag he was holding. "Finally at least he's finally out of the way," a voice said shaking Peter out of his thoughts, looking up he saw his friend standing beside him.<p>

"Josh… what are you talking about?" Peter asked tightening his grip on the strap. "I'm saying I'm glad he's going back to jail it's where he belongs and I'm glad I could help get him there," Josh said with a smirk. Before anyone could stop him Peter cocked his hand back and punched Josh in the jaw. Not counting on the panel coming down in time to see his actions Peter stood there breathing heavy. "Agent Burke that's two more weeks of suspension for assaulting another agent," Agent Carr said. Peter shook his hand a bit to get rid of the pain. "It was worth it," he said as he looked at Neal as he was put into the back seat of the agent's car. Leaving the lobby Peter flagged down a cab and gave his home address.

When he arrived home Peter held onto Neal's bag and made his way inside. "Peter…what's wrong?" Elizabeth asked as she walked over and put her arms around him. "Neal and I were just on a plane for seven hours, and then we were pulled into the office for twenty minutes of questioning and after being called on our lies I was suspended for four weeks and Neal was sent back to jail for two months," he said as he let the bag drop to the floor as he hugged his wife. "Well that doesn't seem like too bad a sentence for Neal but why were you suspended?" she asked as she helped Peter to the couch.

Peter sighed, "I was going to tell you this but Neal ran off and it didn't feel like the time to tell you but I slept with Neal," Peter said as he waited for Elizabeth to react to the news. "I know… Josh told me a few days ago…he seemed a bit too excited about telling me actually, I went upstairs to call you but your phone was off you were on your way to Spain actually and when I came back down he was gone," Elizabeth said calmly. "You're taking this really well," Peter remarked as he sat down on the couch. "I've seen it coming for a while Neal is younger, handsome, smart, he knows how to get under your skin just enough so you don't get mad at him, at first when I figured out that you had feelings for him I was worried but then when I heard you had slept with him I was really upset at you I wanted to throw you out but then I realized you weren't trying to hurt me, that's why you never said anything about your feelings. So as your punishment you have to do that list of chores on the fridge that's been there since last summer," she said as she petted Peter's hair. "I guess four weeks suspension and house work isn't so bad, and clocking Josh did make me feel a little better," Peter remarked with a small smile. "That's the spirit…and just remember four weeks is not a long time," she said with a small smile.

"Neal's the one that's suffering, two months back in prison… then after that we've be ordered not to see each other outside of work… I'm guessing until Neal's work release program is over, so that means no more morning pickups, no dinner here and we can't go to June's," Peter said sighing at the thought of seeing Neal at work and not being able to have even a friendship with him. "Peter Burke you have a big heart and that's why I love you…now you look beat why don't you go upstairs and rest for a while then we'll have dinner and you can do the dishes by hand the dishwasher broke again," Elizabeth said as she got up. Peter got up from the couch and grabbed Neal's bag and made his way upstairs with Satchmo and climbed onto the master bed to let the jet lag take over.

* * *

><p>Neal shook as he was lead through the halls to the solitary wing on the prison, voices calling out to him from general population with vulgar phrases made him keep his eyes glued to the floor as the guard took the long way. Despite the white paint and sterile look of solitary Neal hated being locked up in the safer wing. The enclosed space just made his body ache. When the door clanged shut Neal looked up and saw the guard was gone he began to pace back and forth. When he got dizzy he sat on the floor and looked at his feet. "Well…well... as I live and breathe, Neal when did you get here?" Neal looked up and smiled. "Hey Dwayne, yeah I'm back but only for two months so don't worry I'm not going to break out any time soon," he said with a smile.<p>

"Yeah… I'll believe it when I see it buddy, now I've got some more rounds to do but I'll be back to make sure your settling in," Dwayne said as he walked off and left Neal alone. _ Two months…in here…at least Dwayne is still here he always keeps an eye on me,_ Neal thought as he stared at the blank wall as he tried to ready himself for prison lunch. _I already miss my kitchenette at June's_ he mused with a sigh. By lunch time Neal could smell the food. Feeling his stomach clench at the smell he got up from the floor when Dwayne returned. "I know…buddy but it's only two month of meals so it's not that bad," he said as he led Neal out of his cell and down the hall to the mess hall where the other inmates were filing in. Neal looks around and noticed quite a few faces some who were friendly and others who were less than friendly because of who put them there. Lowering his eyes Neal got a tray and what looked like three times refried beans and some bread. Walking to an empty table Neal picked at the slightly stale bread and nibbled on it.

When the bread was gone Neal grabbed his fork and pushed the mushed beans around and resisted the urge to gag as he scooped some up and ate everything. When his tray was clear Neal kept his eyes down as he brought the tray to the pile. Leaving the mess hall Neal went back to his cell and dropped on his small bed and tried to get comfortable. _How am I ever going to last two months here…_ Neal groaned as he ignored his stomach clenching.

After two months Neal was ecstatic that his jail sentence was over. Leaving through the large steal doors Neal was flanked by two very unfriendly U.S. Marshalls. "Hey Diana thanks for picking me up, I know Peter would have done it if he could," Neal remarked as he made his way to the car his clothes hanging off his lanky frame even more than ever his hair was slightly longer and unkempt. "Jeez what happened to you? Did you starve yourself for two months?" Diana asked as she removed her sun glasses and looked Neal over. Neal ignored the comment and got into the car. Getting in behind the wheel as they drove towards the city Diana noticed Neal was not himself he seemed to resemble a sack of potatoes just sitting there. Driving in silence Diana pulled up to a shop front and parked her car. Getting out Diana practically dragged Neal inside to the shop that was in the middle of renovations.

Looking around Neal wondered if he was here to wacked like in an old mobster movie. "Right on time…oh Neal what happened to you… you're so skinny," Elizabeth said as she came over to Neal and hugged him. Concern filled her right away when she realized she could feel a few of Neal's ribs through his clothes. "Well before we get started I want you to have some lunch Peter's picking up Italian from the place on the corner we'll eat in my office. Then it's work time…" she said as she put her arm around Neal and led him to the finished office in back. Grabbing her phone she called Peter and told him to bring extra for Neal.

Neal looked around the office and tried to avoid looking at Elizabeth for a few minutes. "So what is this all about anyway?" he asked finally looking at her. "Right, Mozzie and I worked together and managed to get the FBI to remove the three extra years pinned to your work release program in return you're going to be doing the equivalent of FBI community service, which means for the next 16 Saturdays in a row, not counted toward your release, you're going to be working for me… to repay the damages caused to my store," Elizabeth said with a smirk.

"I didn't do this though," Neal argued. "I know, and it's not about who did or didn't do it this is about something else," she replied as she got up. After a moment it dawned on the ex con, what Elizabeth was talking about.

"You know about me and Peter…" he said realizing how much trouble he was in.

"Yep" she replied with a smirk that just screamed this was ultimate punishment.

"And this is the punishment for it…" Neal said with a sigh as he remembered what it looked like in the store front. Elizabeth nodded her head. "Yep and don't think Peter got away so easy he already paid his dues of house work for four weeks," she said as she patted Neal on the shoulder. Lowering his head in defeat Neal knew that working for Elizabeth was going to his third least favorite thing in the world just under going to prison and eating prison food. "Don't think I got off easy with just four weeks… she had two months of work crammed into four weeks," Peter said from the doorway as he lugged in couple bags of takeout food.

Neal gave a weak smile when he saw Peter. "I thought we were supposed to see each other out of work?" Neal asked remembering on of the stipulations of the new rules. Peter walked over and put the food down. "We're not outside of work… this is work related and also I'm having lunch with my wife and this is not our residence so you're allowed to be here as well, it's a loop hole one of many Mozzie found in the new rules," Peter said as he took the open seat next to Neal.

Peter looked at his partner for a moment as Neal had begun to dig through the bags looking for food. "I almost forgot that you and prison food don't mix," he commented as he took the container Neal handed him. "I'll back in a minute the tile guys just arrived I have to sign for them, oh this is going to be so much fun," she said as she left the room. Neal paled even more. "Peter… she doesn't mean I have to lay tiles do I?" he asked with a worried look on his face. "Yeah, but don't worry I'll show you how to do it, why else do you think I'm here and why else would we get you from prison on a Saturday… weight loss or not you have to work off the damages so start eating," Peter said as he started to dig into his lunch.

* * *

><p>When lunch was over Peter led Neal to the area they would be working on and handed him a change of clothes and let him change before they started to work. After teaching Neal the basics of how to measure and figure out where the stone tiles were going when that was done they laid a third of the adhesive down and waited until it was set before they started to put the tiles down. Halfway through the work Neal grew bored and leaned back against the boxes of unopened tiles. "Neal, get back to work…" Peter said as he turned and found Neal napping. Smiling Peter looked around before going back to work leaving Neal to sleep. When he had finished the first ten rows of tile he looked back at Neal. "Come on Neal… we need to finish this…" Peter said shaking the ex con. Neal groaned and sat up "I'm not the one who did this can't we just arrest Adler and make him do this?" Neal asked with a whine in his voice. "If you want to travel around the world looking for him then do it, but unless you want El to be furious at you for not finishing the floor I would suggest you leave now because she will hunt you like a blood hound," Peter said with a smile.<p>

Neal laughed his first laugh in many months. "You know what I think I'll stay and finish these then…the tiles go like this right?" he asked intentionally messing up so Peter would help him. After fixing it Neal returned it to the way he had it before. Getting annoyed Peter grabbed Neal's hands as he held the tile and put the tile the way it was supposed to go. Smirking at the contact Neal grabbed a tile and started to put them down correctly after an hour one side of the small back room was finished. Peter insisted on a break for Neal to eat more. After eating until he was full Neal sat back in his seat and looked at Peter. "Peter, do you really think we can hold out for three years before we can be together?" Neal asked as he propped his feet up on the chair next to him. Walking over to the chair where Neal was sitting he leaned down close to him.

"I can't wait three minutes let alone three years… working with you every day is going to be so hard, now let's get back to work and if we finish early… well then I'll let you finish that thought," he said with a smirk. Nodding his head Neal followed Peter and grabbed his arm and yanked him back into a kiss before he pulled away and walked over to their workspace and got back down on the floor and began to work again. An hour later when the floor was finished Elizabeth returned to a perfectly laid floor. "Great job you two, we'll give you a ride back to June's so you can rest," she said as the collected the leftover takeout and got into the car. Peter handed Neal his satchel bag he had been holding onto before he drove to June's. "On Monday morning Diana will be here to pick you up so be ready on time," he said before leaving Neal on the sidewalk in front of June's large house.

Neal walked inside using the keys he had been given back and went up to his apartment, as he opened his apartment door he came face to face with Agent Carr. "Mr. Caffrey…how would you like to earn early release from your work release program?" she asked as she walked towards Neal. "I would love that but what's the catch?" Neal asked ignoring his sore back. "The catch is that you will be working for us, we want you to help us to arrest Vincent Adler," she said as she stopped a foot from Neal. Swallowing hard Neal stood his ground. "I want it in writing that once I do this I'm done with all of this," Neal demanded as he stood there. "Of course…I have it right on the table all ready for you to sign," she said as she held a pen out to Neal. Taking the pen Neal walked over and looked at the contract and signed it before dropping the pen. "Thank you very much…and I will be calling you when you're needed," Agent Carr said as she walked past Neal. "Oh and Mr. Caffrey let's just keep this between us otherwise this deal will be going out the window," Janet said as she left the apartment leaving Neal alone. Walking across the room Neal dropped onto his bed and sighed comfortably as he fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Peter walked into the office Monday morning and found Neal sitting on the corner of his desk waiting for him. "Hey…you look good for doing hard labor," Peter remarked. Neal smirked "I like a little hard labor, besides I had all day Sunday to rest. Diana is looking for you; a case came in that is pretty interesting. It has something to do with sports so that should pique your interest," Neal said as he handed the case file over. Peter opened the file and broke into a smile. "No joke?" he asked getting excited. "No joke, they called this morning and they are worried that some of their new donations might be not a hundred percent accurate and being you're the resident sport's nut I thought you would like it," Neal said smiling. Just then Neal's phone began to go off.<p>

Grabbing his phone Neal hopped off his desk to answer it and right away right away he regretted it. After a minute he hung up. "I'm going out for coffee did you want anything?" Neal asked as he grabbed his hat and perched it on his head. "No, just hurry back we need to get started on this case," Peter said as Neal left the office. Walking down to the café Neal went inside and ordered a coffee and sat across from the OPR agent. "Good to see you can follow orders; you have your first assignment. You need to get in contact with Mr. Adler, his lawyer is here in the city so you can see where this is going right?" she asked. Nodding his head Neal sipped his coffee and put it down as he was handed a business card. "Now go make friends with the nice lawyer… right now, now scamper off like a good little rabbit," Agent Carr said with a smirk as she waved Neal off.

Neal sighed and grabbed his coffee as he left the shop and hailed a cab and gave the lawyer's address. After twenty minutes of city traffic Neal got out of the cab and paid the driver before walking up to the front door of the brownstone and knocking. A young woman in her mid- thirties opened the door. "Please come in…Mr.?" "Halden… Nick Halden," Neal said with a thousand watt smile that got him in through the front door. "I'm Pamela West, Mr. Halden how can I be of assistants to you today?" she asked leading Neal into her office. "I was referred to you recently by a former boss of mine Vincent Adler… you see the thing is I haven't seen him in some time and I need to get a message to him and I was hoping you could pass it on to him?" Neal asked with a smile. Pamela walked around her desk and sat down. "I could possibly do that… but I want something in return… how about dinner tonight say around nine then maybe we could go to some clubs for drinks after," she said with a smirk.

"I would love that, I'll be here at eight-thirty to pick you up I'll take care of dinner myself… in fact I'll cook for you at my place then I'll take you someplace that a woman like you would enjoy," Neal said as he stood up. "I'll let myself out," he said as he finished his coffee and threw the empty cup away and left the brownstone and made his way back to the office. By the time he got back he could see that Peter wasn't happy. Walking into Peter's office Neal forced a smile as he shut the door behind him. "You were gone for over an hour where were you?" Peter asked as he moved towards the younger man. "The line was really long at the coffee shop and I had to sit and enjoy my coffee," Neal said with a true smile hoping to get away with being gone for so long without explaining anything. "That's bullshit Neal… when you didn't come back after ten minutes I pulled your data what were you doing on the upper west side?" Peter asked sternly.

Faltering in his reaction time Neal backed up and found he backed himself into the corner. "I can't tell you…" he said lowering his voice at the anger. "Can't or won't?" Peter growled as he slammed his hand against the corner. "I said I can't…tell you!" Neal yelled as he pushed past Peter and left the office and returned to his desk. As the day progressed Peter tried to get Neal's attention to talk more but every chance he got Neal would act busy or ignore him. When team was ordering lunch Peter walked the menu over to Neal and handed it to him. "I'll take my usual…" he said without even looking up from his sketchbook. _If I even look at him I'm afraid I'm going to spill the beans about that contract and then I lose it and I'm stuck working for the FBI for three more years. _ Neal thought as he continued to sketch.

* * *

><p>When the work day was coming to a close Peter looked up from his work and found Neal still at his desk hunched over his paperwork. "Hey… can we talk for a minute?" he asked as Neal finally looked up. "Alright… fine but don't ask me about earlier I can't say anything…and actually I have to get going I have plans tonight," Neal said as he collected his coat and hat and left his desk. Peter sighed and looked at Neal's desk and noticed his name in the corner of the sketchpad. Looking at the drawing he quirked his eyebrow at the randomness of the page. Shaking his head he closed the sketchpad and carried it to his office as he grabbed his things and went home for the evening.<p>

After arriving home from the store Neal began to mix the ingredients for dinner before putting the dish in the oven to bake while he showered and changed his clothes. Checking his looks in the mirror one last time he left his hat home and checked the food before leaving and hailing a cab and riding to Pamela's home in the upper west side.

"Hello Mr. Adler, I know you told me only to call you if someone came around looking for you, today and a man named Nick Halden came by today trying to pass a message onto you… I see… no, I won't say a word to him but I am having dinner with him tonight. Of course sir, I will call you back in a few days Mr. Adler. Yes… of course, goodbye," Pamela said before hanging up her phone just as there was a knock on the door. Answer the door she smiled. "Nick you're a little early; just let me grab my purse and we'll go, I can't wait to see how well of a cook you are," she said as she followed Neal out of her home and to the waiting cab. "Only a true New Yorker travels by cab," Neal remarked as he held the door open. Getting into the cab she smiled as Neal got in and gave the driver June's address. When they arrived Neal led the beautiful attorney up to his apartment and let her inside. Pouring a couple glasses of wine he smiled as he handed her a glass. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes until then why don't I show you a view that is to die for," Neal remarked as he led Pamela out to see the view.

"Nick this is a wonderful apartment and you're right this view is to kill for. Since you invited me over tonight I take it you don't have a girlfriend because she would never let someone as handsome as you out of her sight for a second. If I were your girlfriend I would keep you locked away all for myself," Pamela said with a smirk as she finished her wine. Neal forced a smile and downed his wine quickly. "I've got to get the food," he remarked as he went back in and poured another glass for himself before taking the hot dish out of the oven. Walking into the apartment Pamela sat at the table. "That smells great… so Nick tell me all about yourself I'm curious to know how you can afford to live in such an expensive place," she said with a smirk.

Peter arrived home late that night from traffic. Walking straight to the dining room table Peter sat down and opened the sketch book again to the drawing and sighed as he looked at the confusing drawing. "Oh how cute, why does the bunny rabbit have a have a hat on?" Elizabeth asked pointing to the cute baby bunny rabbit wearing a fedora. Peter gave small laugh as it began to click. "Neal and I had an argument earlier about where he was and he told me he couldn't tell me but I think he is trying to show me," Peter remarked as he studied the drawing. "That cat is by a car I think that's Agent Carr if we're following the logic, but then who is the fox or this wolf by the rabbit?" Peter asked. Elizabeth smiled and looked at her husband. "Well I don't know about the fox but I think the wolf is you… he's standing over the bunny protecting him," she said as she walked into the kitchen and brought dinner out. Putting the sketchbook aside Peter sighed and began to eat. _ Neal… what are you trying to tell me? _Peter thought as his mind drifted back to the drawing.


	9. Chapter 9

**Welcome to the final chapter of the story I hope people review because it means a lot to me and you will see why. Loves and Hugs Bun Bun Babe want to thank my beta and my fans who review and those who read also thanks so much  
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**Chapter 9: Showdown**

Neal talked all through dinner piling story upon story making sure to keep it consistent. He made sure to make it hard for his guest to get a word in edgewise so he could keep the relationship in control. "Nick… I love this story but can I get a word in?" Pamela asked as she grabbed the wine bottle and poured two more drinks and handed Neal his fourth glass. "This should be my last glass; I do have to work in the morning and I'll be in deep trouble if I drink anymore, I would like to see you again though, and could we maybe get together this Saturday night? I'm doing a little work for a friend of mine during the day but I'll be glad to take you out after," Neal offered hoping to get to bed soon. Pamela smiled. "Well I had an excellent time tonight Nick and I hope we have some more fun together again, you are such a cutie…" Pamela said as she grabbed Neal by the front of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss before letting him go and walking out of his apartment. Neal cleared his throat and went to work on cleaning up the dishes and putting the left overs away. Once everything was done Neal grabbed the nearly empty wine bottle and finished it in a few gulps before opening other and drinking straight from the bottle as he painted and when it was done he stripped down to his boxers and got ready to turn in for the night. With his clothes all over the apartment he changed in his closet before stumbling out and into the bathroom to continue the routine before carefully stepping around his apartment as he tried not to trip on anything as he got into bed and fell asleep.

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><p>Diana walked into Neal's apartment the next morning and looked around until she found Neal on his bed. "Caffrey… let's go, we were supposed to be on the road ten minutes ago," she said yanking the blankets off of Neal. "Mmm… give them back…" Neal moaned covering his head with a pillow to block the light. "Are you hung over?" she asked struggling to pull the pillow away and tossed it aside when she got it free. Neal whimpered at the bright light as he slid out of bed with a thump and tried to crawl under his bed. Grabbing Neal's ankle Diana pulled him back out. "Get dressed in something comfortable and let's go we've got to pick up Peter before we drive four hours, now hurry up," she ordered as Neal got to his feet and made his way to his closet and came out in a pair of jeans a long sleeved maroon shirt and a leather jacket, taking his time brushing his teeth he made sure his hair looked perfect before he walked back out. Following Diana out of apartment Neal complained about not eating breakfast as he was led to the car and got into the back seat.<p>

"We'll stop on the road," she said as she got into the driver's seat and took off to pick up Peter before they left the city. When they got to the Burke's Diana beeped the horn making Neal cry out in annoyance. Peter walked down the steps and saw Neal using his arm to hide from the sunlight. Getting into the passenger seat he looked at Diana with a quizzical look. "Hang over and from the looks of it he's really regretting it," she said with a smirk.

Peter smirked, "Neal, I hope you've learned your lesson," Peter said as they headed north out of the city. Neal soon fell asleep in the back seat to rest his body from the damage he did to it. When they finally arrived in Cooperstown Diana pulled up to their destination and turned the car off and looked at Neal who was sound asleep in the back seat. She was getting ready to beep the horn when Peter stopped her. "Let him rest, in fact give me the keys I'm going to take him to the store and get him a cure for his hangover," he said as he took the keys and got out of the car. As Diana entered the building he drove to the small market and parked the car. After waking Neal up Peter dragged him around the market ignoring his whining until he had everything he needed so when they got back to the car Peter mixed up the ingredients and handed the bottle to Neal. Trying not to gag Neal drank the spicy drink and paled right away.

"Are you trying to poison me that was terrible…?" Neal said as he took the water bottle Peter held out to him. After drinking half the water Neal sighed and put the cap back on the bottle and sighed. "You're so mean to me," Neal said with a pout. Peter smirked and leaned against the trunk of the car. "You realize that we're alone… right?" he remarked. Instantly Neal's head shot up in realization. "Can I borrow that sugar you bought?" Neal asked as he took the small box of sugar packets from the bag and the rest of his water. Peter looked away as Neal mixed the sugar and water together and walked over to the gas tank and poured the sweet syrup into the tank. "You realize Diana is going to kill you for ruining her car," Peter said as he watched Neal toss the bottle into the back seat. "I'll deal with it later," he replied as he looked up at the bright sky his head no longer bothering him.

Leaving the market they began to make their way back to the Baseball Hall of Fame when the car sputtered and died. Neal tried hard to hide the smirk on his face as Peter called for a tow truck. After catching a ride to the meeting at the hall of fame Peter explained the car trouble to Diana and how it could take a day or more to find and fix the problem. "I just had it checked out too, well there has to be a place we can stay for the night that's not too expensive," she remarked as she walked off to the office of the Hall of Fame to get some information about lodging for the night. When she returned she held up a sheet of paper. "I got directions to a hotel just around the corner less than a block away, now I have to go take care of my car so behave" she said as she left Peter and Neal behind.

After meeting with the owner Neal looked at the memorabilia closely and studied every inch of it as Peter convinced the man in charge that Neal wouldn't steal anything and that he could go about his day. "So what do you think Neal, real or forgery?" Peter asked as he leaned over the table. "Oh they're real all right, but if they were forgeries they would be better than anything I could ever do, that's why I never got into famous forgeries they're too easy to spot," Neal remarked as he looked up. "So you don't have to worry about any of these signatures being false," Neal said as he looked back at the sheet of paper with the signatures to make sure he was correct. Peter sighed and sat down and leaned back so his head was against the back of the chair. "Good, but as soon as Diana finds out what you did you're a dead man," Peter remarked. Neal smirked and looked around the small office and found they were alone with just a single entrance into the room. "As a man soon to be dead for his actions don't I get one request?" Neal asked as he sat down beside Peter. "Fine one single request and that's it?" Peter asked interested in what Neal wanted.

"Peter…I take it you have a pair of handcuffs with you? How about once we get a room we should have a little fun, it has been a while since you handcuffed me and I know you love it, and I'm always up for something kinky," Neal remarked. Peter cleared his throat and fidgeted on the chair as he tried to keep his thoughts clean and on the case but it was a losing battle. "Something wrong Peter?" Neal asked with a knowing smirk as he went back to looking at the baseball cards as he leaned over the table to reach one of the cards across the table giving a perfect view of his backside. Peter shook his head to clear his thoughts. When Diana returned she found Neal working quietly comparing signatures as he leaned over the table a bit. "I found us a couple rooms at a hotel not too far from here… because of orders you'll be staying in a room with me Neal in your own bed, and Peter I got you a room a floor above us," she said handing Peter his keycard.

* * *

><p>By the end of the day a third of the memorabilia had been checked and with the business hours getting closer Peter announced that they would be heading to the hotel to check out their rooms. Neal smirked and followed Peter out of the cramped office and resisted the urge to jump him. The walk to the hotel ended with Diana hitting Neal on the head with an empty water bottle to get him to quiet down about how long they had to walk. Upon arrival Neal followed behind Peter to the elevator. Just as he was about to step in he was yanked back hard. "Oh no you don't I called back to New York earlier and they said no funny business that means you two are not allowed to be alone in a hotel room. Now I have to go get a few things from the store, I'll be gone for two hours at the most and you are going to stay down in this lobby until I get back, there is no going up to the fourth floor room four thirty four at any cost," she said with a smirk. Neal nodded and waited for Diana to leave.<p>

The moment Diana left the hotel lobby Neal walked quickly to the elevator and rode it to the fourth floor and made his way to Peter's room. Knocking on the door he barely finished his second knock when the door opened. Neal walked into the room and sat on the king size bed and sighed contently. "We've got two hours..." he remarked as Peter came over and sat beside the younger man. Neal smirked and spun around and straddled Peter's lap and smirked as he pushed his jacket off. Pulling Neal into a kiss Peter savored the feeling knowing that could be a while before it would happen again. When they broke apart Neal swayed a bit his mind flooded endorphins. Stealing used to give him the same rush until he realized a relationship with Peter gave him an even bigger rush. Once he caught his breath Neal waited until his head was clear enough to think before he spoke. "Forget the handcuffs it will take too long and I've already had to wait this long," Neal mumbled as he leaned back in and locked lips with the FBI agent.

When they pulled apart again Peter smirked. "You better hope these walls are sound proof," he remarked. Neal flushed lightly and smirked, "I don't care… but Peter before we go on can we talk about something?" he asked as he put his hand against Peter's chest. "Alright what's on your mind?" Peter asked worried about his lover but before Neal could say anything there was a loud pounding on the door. "Neal, get out here… I know what you did to my car!" Diana yelled through the door.

Peter got off the bed despite Neal's pleas to let Diana in. By the time he shut the door he heard Neal trying to get out of being punished. "If you want to punish someone then punish Peter he didn't even try to stop me," Neal remarked as he stayed on the bed where he felt safe. Peter walked over and sat on the bed. "I know why you did it but you didn't have to try and ruin my car. You know that I'm on your side and could have come up with something to keep us here but since you went behind my back I'm going to have to punish you," Diana said as she stood at the edge of the bed as she pulled a flat backed hairbrush from her handbag to use on him.

Neal paled backing further into the pillows to get away from the female agent intent on spanking him. Sitting on the bed Diana easily pulled Neal over her lap and began to spank him. Neal howled with pain and embarrassment while Diana continued to heat up his backside with her quick and hard swats. Diana continued to spank Neal, not releasing him until his backside was as red as his face. Neal quickly moved onto the bed and hid his face in the pillows, ashamed by what had just happened. Peter smirked as Diana left the room with a smile on her face. "She's gone now…" he remarked as he pulled Neal into his arms. Twisting around Neal latched onto Peter. Petting the younger man's hair Peter let Neal rest his head against his shoulder.

"I'll protect you from anymore mean hairbrushes," Peter whispered with a smirk. Neal tried not to pout at the joke. "That's not funny how would you like it if I spanked you with a hair brush it's humiliating," Neal defended as he sat back and looked into Peter's eyes. "Well if you did it then maybe, but I did enjoy watching you get punished," Peter remarked as he kept the younger man in his arms and he gave him a small swat on his buttocks. Jumping at the assault he frowned. "Not funny it still hurts…" Neal remarked with a pout. "Sorry I'll make it all better…" Peter remarked as he put his lips against Neal's neck and bit down hard using Neal's weakness against him while pinned him to the bed.

Groaning softly Neal bit his lip as Peter bit down on his neck. Neal had never told anyone about his weakness for being bitten on the neck like vampire bait. Grabbing Peter's shoulder hard and moaned loudly, arching his back Neal felt his mind go blank as Peter scraped his teeth across the bite mark. Peter wrapped his arm around Neal's back and pulled him flush against his chest. "Nngh…" Neal moaned as he turned his head away giving Peter more access to his neck. Trailing kisses up the side of Neal's neck and down his chin Peter reclaimed the younger man's lips before pulling away when they finally needed air.

Peter threw away all worries as he looked deep into Neal's eyes. "I love you Neal," he said softly hoping the other man felt the same way. Neal froze for a moment and searched Peter's face for the truth and smiled before kissing Peter and pulled away. "I…I love you too…" Neal said as he felt his heart unclenched and began to do summersaults. He wanted to confess his full feelings for some time but he had no idea how the other man felt or if this was a passing fling. Putting his head against Peter's chest he smiled. "Can we just lay here? I want to hold onto this moment in case this is a dream," Neal remarked as he shifted a bit so he was comfortable. Peter nodded and moved a bit so Neal's head was under his chin and his arms around his smaller frame protectively.

* * *

><p>Diana rubbed her eyes as she made her way into the small café restaurant at eight in the morning, when she got there she found Neal and Peter alone in a corner booth talking over coffee. Neal looked up and smiled and slid over letting Diana sit next to him. "You look tired, I on the other hand had the best night of my life," Neal said with a smile as he sipped his coffee. "I can tell; the hickey is a dead giveaway. You might want to take care of that before you go back to work," she remarked.<p>

Peter looked over and smirked at his work. "Neal's got a thing for being…" Peter stopped when Neal covered his mouth with his hand. Smirking Peter kissed Neal's palm and waited for Neal to pull his hand away. Neal smirked and went back to drinking his coffee. "I finished the work yesterday, so I guess that means we have to head home?" Neal asked acting dejected. "Yes we have to go back, how else do we get paid?" Peter asked smiling as Diana rolled her eyes and slipped away to check out of the hotel. When they were getting into the car that had been dropped off earlier that morning, Neal pulled his agent into the back seat and snuggled up against him.

"If you two even start having sex in my car I will separate you," she warned as they left the parking lot and making their four hour drive home. Neal closed his eyes and enjoyed the time together. By the time they reached Manhattan Neal was dead to the world his head resting on Peter's shoulder. Smiling Peter shook Neal awake. Groaning Neal opened his eyes and looked around and saw they were outside of the FBI office. Neal wanted to pout but decided against it as he followed Peter upstairs, he tugged at his jacket collar to hide the hickey on his neck as he sat at his desk as Peter walked by and went to his office to begin his paperwork.

Neal yawned and started on his own report and when he was done he emailed it to Peter. He then sat back in his chair and put feet up on his desk before putting his hat on his face to get a little more rest. "Excuse me I'm looking for Agent Burke," Neal sat up and lifted the hat off his face and swallowed hard. "Sara…um… he's up there," Neal said pointing toward the agent's office. As the redhead walked away Neal groaned and put his hands over his face and wished he was dreaming. Jones walked over and looked at Neal. "You know her?" he asked as Neal uncovered his face. "Yeah… I know her; she has been after me for a while for a painting I allegedly stole or so she thinks… so this isn't going to be good is it?" Neal asked. Jones shook his head. "She's going to be work with us for the next two weeks so get used to her being here," Jones said as Neal resisted the urge to pout.

After Sara finally left, Neal walked into Peter's office and shut the door and leaned against it. "So you and Sara are you going to be able to work together right?" Peter asked as he leaned back in his chair. Neal bit his bottom lip and nodded. "Yeah I can do it, she's the one holding the grudge, she can't get over the fact that I allegedly stole a painting and she never caught me like you did," Neal remarked with a thousand watt smile. "If she had you would be sleeping with her right now every chance you got," Peter remarked a hint of jealously in his voice. "Doubt it…she doesn't have your ass or those great looks, besides does she look like the type to risk her career for someone like me?" the ex con asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. "No she doesn't, well if that's been settled we still have work to do…Jones told me there is a stack of mortgage fraud cases just calling you name and when you finish those you can go home," Peter said looking at the ex con. Neal gave a fake smile as he left the office and went back to his desk where the files were waiting.

As soon as he sat down his phone went off. Seeing the name on the caller ID he quickly left the office and made his way past the elevators. "Agent Carr… it's nice to talk…of course… no I understand I'll be there in four minutes," Neal said before he hung up and slid into the elevator when he was sure no one was watching and rode down to the lobby before heading to the coffee shop. Walking to the table in the corner Neal sat across from Agent Carr and lowered his gaze and turned his head to hide the hickey on his neck. "We want Adler and you're wasting time, get in contact with him and bring him to this city now or kiss this contract with us goodbye, oh and I know that you didn't read the fine print but if you don't bring Adler to us in the next two weeks the contract becomes null and void. We will also pull your work program and put you back in jail for the time you owe and add years for anything we deem fit like fraternizing with an FBI agent when you were warned to stay away. Did you really think I won't notice that massive hickey?" she asked placing a copy of the contract on the table.

Grabbing the contract Neal read it over and felt his stomach drop. "You tricked me…Peter will-" Neal was cut off by the contracted being pulled from his hands. "If you say one word to Agent Burke not only will he be fired but I'll make sure he is blackballed so he can't even be a school security guard. Now I have to go but I expect to hear something soon from you very soon," Agent Carr said as she grabbed her coffee and left. Getting up from his seat Neal borrowed a pen from the barista and grabbed a flyer and returned to his table and started to sketch a message to Peter, when he was done he folded the paper and returned the pen. "In about four minutes a man is going to be coming in here, give him this and this," Neal said as kneeled down and cut his anklet and handed the blaring plastic jewelry to the annoyed young man before taking off and hailing a cab.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket he called Pamela. "Pamela… its Nick I need to meet with him as soon as possible," Neal said as he gave the cab drive his destination. "Nick… Mr. Adler will be in the city tonight, he told me if you were to call to tell you to meet him tonight after six on the High Line by the Thirtieth Street entrance… don't be late," she said before hanging up on Neal. Putting his phone away Neal got out of the cab and made his way into the department store and headed for the men's section.

* * *

><p>Peter was caught off guard as Diana came into the office. "Caffrey cut his anklet…at the coffee shop down the street," she said out of breath. Peter jumped up from his chair and rushed out of the office in hopes of catching Neal. When he got there he had the key ready to shut the anklet off. After receiving the anklet and the flyer Peter looked at the drawing before returning to the office and began to bark orders about locating Neal. When he had a moment he sat down at his desk and began to look at the drawing as Diana walked back in. "What is that?" she asked going around and looking at the drawings. "It's a message from Neal…he left me one before, this rabbit here is him and this cat is Agent Carr. If I'm reading this right, and I really hope I am, then Neal is under contract with Agent Carr. But this fox…I have no idea who that's supposed to be but..." Jones rushed into the office. "Caffrey was spotted outside Macy's on Thirty-Fourth Street getting into a cab," he said. "That's right by Grand Central and Port Authority… but if Neal is on the run why didn't he go to Penn station its right there…" Peter thought aloud as he tried to follow Neal's train of thought. Pulling his cellphone out Peter sent another text message to Neal; he had been trying to get some answers with no luck for some time. Putting his phone on his desk it began to buzz with a text. Grabbing it he flipped his phone open he read the message. 'Not running away, we need to talk, two minutes.' Quirking his eyebrow Peter looked up at Jones. "Did you get any news from Caffrey?" Jones asked wondering<p>

'We need to meet in person' Peter typed back hoping that Neal would give him the respect to talk face to face.

After a minute a reply came to his phone 'Meet me where the lion protects the tomes… come alone' Peter shook his head. "No he's not responding… maybe he threw away his phone, I'm going to go check something out," Peter remarked as he left the office and made his way to the New York Public Library's main branch. When he got there he looked for any sign of Neal and saw him standing at top of the stairs. Walking up to the younger man Peter dragged Neal inside and brought him to a study room in the basement.

"Neal… what's going on what are you doing with Agent Carr?" Peter whispered as he got close. Neal turned around. "If I tell you anything it will end badly for you, I know what I'm doing and I'm doing it for you and me," Neal said as he started to walk away. Peter grabbed Neal's arm and pulled him farther into the room. "If you go out there you'll be caught and be sent right back to jail and I'm not letting that happen to you," Peter said as he pulled Neal to a chair and sat him down. "Stay right here and don't move for a couple hours at least," he ordered. Neal nodded and looked at the agent. "Peter, thank you for trusting me," he said as he leaned back in the chair. "I don't trust you and that's why I'm warning you, if I hear one word about you being spotted again I'll put you in jail myself and I'll make sure Diana brings her hairbrush," he remarked as he saw Neal flinch. "I'll stay for now, but I have to be somewhere tonight," Neal said as he stayed seated to please Peter.

Sighing loudly Peter sat in the open chair next to Neal's and grabbed a hold of Neal's hands and held them in his. "Whatever it is you're doing tonight I want you to be safe…I'll be in touch later to tell you when you can leave…" Peter said as he stood up and let the ex con's hands slip out of his before he left the room and made his way back to the office. The moment he got back he pulled Jones aside. "Track Neal's cell phone I want to know where it is at all hours, but you can't tell anyone else you're doing this for me," Peter ordered as he went into the conference room to bark out new places to search for the ex con.

Waiting until enough time passed Neal pulled his phone out and called Agent Carr. "I have a meeting for tonight on the High Line by 30th street at six," he said as he left the study room and walked out of the vast halls of knowledge and walked into the sunlight. _ I'm sorry Peter but if I stay in there for too long it just makes it easier to be found…_Neal thought as he walked down the sidewalk and blended in with the rest of the people on the sidewalks unaware that he was being digitally followed by his boyfriend.

* * *

><p>By four Peter decided to check on Neal, pulling up his cell phone data he found him seventeen blocks from the library near the edge of Central Park. "Damn it Neal…"Peter hissed as he watched the dot walk down the sidewalk toward Columbus Circle. Calling it an early day Peter left the office and made his way to the High Line unaware that Diana and Jones were following him. Parking in the park garage near the High Line Peter sat and watched the clock on the radio. As the numbers ticked closer to six Peter picked up the drawing Neal left him and continued to study it unaware that Neal was having a meeting with Agent Carr.<p>

"I want the contract to be honored the second he's arrested, and I want the mark on Peter's record expunged," Neal said as he strapped on the bullet proof vest and put the hoody he bought back on. Agent Carr nodded "Fine, but this only happens after he's in jail," she remarked as the van they were in came to a stop below the meeting spot. Neal adjusted his clothes to hide the vest. "The microphone is in the vest and we'll be listening to everything and when you deem that he is safe enough to arrest you'll say the code phrase and that's it," she said as she looked at the clock and saw it was ten minutes to six. Shoving Neal out of the van she shut the door and went to the waiting seat. Neal bit his tongue and made his way down the street to the stair case unaware he was being followed. Climbing the stairs Neal looked around like a rabbit coming out of its hole.

After a moment he spotted the man he was looking for and walked toward him. "Neal… it's good to see you again, I take it you've gotten your memories back?" Vincent asked as he pushed his jacket open a bit showing the handle of a gun. "Yeah…I remember everything," Neal said keeping a good four feet between them. "Well that's good…so why did you want to meet me after you went to such extremes to escape me earlier. You have a reason for meeting in such an open area?" he remarked as he took a step closer forcing Neal to take a step back. "I just thought we should meet is all," Neal said keeping his eyes on the other man.

Vincent smirked as the sunset made the sky burn with the last few rays of light. "Neal don't treat me like an idiot; I know that the FBI wants to arrest me, and I know they wouldn't send you here without some sort of protection like a bullet proof vest… but you know who probably isn't wearing one right now?" he asked as he pulled his gun out of his belt and looked at it. Neal shook his head unsure of the other man's train of logic. Vincent lifted the gun and pointed it at Neal making him freeze before he moved the gun forty degrees to the right and pulled the trigger twice. Neal jumped at the noise and looked behind him and felt the color drain from his face and his heart feel like it fell out of his chest.

"Peter!" he yelled rushing over and dropping to his knees hard on the concrete pathway. In the last of the failing light Neal could see the blood soaking into Peter's shirt. Stripping off his hoody he shivered at the cool air and balled up the cotton hoody and pressed it hard against the two bullet wounds. Hyperventilating Neal tried to control his shaking arms. "Agent down… I repeat agent down…starry night… damn it someone get up here!" Neal screamed hoping the agents in the van were listening. Vincent walked up behind Neal his shoes clicking on the stone. Aware that he was in danger Neal grabbed Peter's gun and spun around and pulled the trigger until the clip was empty. Just as Vincent's body hit the ground the agents from the van arrived and began calling for an ambulance. The other agents kept Peter awake and held the hoodie down as the ambulance got closer.

Agent Carr walked over and stopped when Neal turned to her the gun empty pointed at her. "Neal…it's okay…" a voice said coming up behind Neal and taking the gun from him. Looking up Neal saw Diana and started to shake, struggling to catch his breath as the bullet proof vest restricted his breathing. Crouching down she pulled the vest off and threw it aside as she pulled Neal into her arms as the paramedics arrived and rushed to help Peter. They saw it was a lost cause with Vincent. One paramedic came over to Neal and checked him out. "He's in moderate shock and should go to the hospital to be completely check out; we're taking the agent to St. Luke's on Amsterdam," he said as they rushed Peter down to the street level and into the ambulance and turned the siren and lights on before rushing off into the slowly darkening city.

**Ok everyone here is the deal I'm going to make it so you help me write the first chapter of the next story by the amount of reviews**

0 revivews- angsty character death

1-4 reviews- peter survives but in a coma for a while

6+ reviews- super happy cute fun story ( just kidding it will be a real good chapter)


	10. Author's Note

Author's Note Hey everyone wanted to just thank everyone for reading Twisted Game of Love and tell you the sequel is now out Thorn of a Rose and from time to time I might ask for your help in reviews by the number of reviews you guys control how the story will go. I may even ask you what you guys want to happen next. So please keep reading and reviewing love you all

Hugs and Love

BunBunBabe 


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